Cayuga County Sheriff Rob Outhouse may not have the complete support of those in his department, but he has a few important well-placed friends.

As Outhouse officially announced his re-election bid last week, he did so knowing that his opponent - David Gould - has already secured the endorsements of both the Cayuga County Deputy Sheriff#'s Benevolent Association and the Deputy Sheriff's Police Association.

But Outhouse, even before he made his campaign announcement Wednesday, had the support of Cherl Heary, chairwoman of the Cayuga County Republican Committee. On the county GOP Web site home page, Heary posted a letter stating that “locally, we will work to re-elect Sheriff Rob Outhouse.”

What makes Heary's open letter to the community inappropriate is:

A) At the time it was posted, there was only one announced Republican candidate for Cayuga County sheriff: David Gould. Outhouse had yet to announce he would seek re-election.

B) The Cayuga County Republican committees are still weeks away from meeting to select their choice for sheriff.

It is also a violation of the Republican's own rules, which state that “No Committee Member or Committee may give official Republican endorsement for any candidate unless the candidate has been duly nominated ... or unless said candidate has successfully earned the endorsement in accordance with New York State Election Law.”

Heary can contend that she did not officially endorse Outhouse on behalf of the party, but her intent is clear.

Consider that, in addition, she has posted Outhouse's third-year report on the GOP home page, along with a photograph of the sheriff (his is the only photograph on the page). Out of fairness to both Republican candidates who have yet to be endorsed by the party, this report only belongs on the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office Web site.

But the Cayuga County Republican Party isn't likely to be fair to Gould.

For months, there have been complaints from critics that Outhouse and Cayuga County Clerk Sue Dwyer have been stocking the GOP committees with their supporters so that the sheriff will have a lock on the party's nomination.

The county Republicans Web site lists only Sheriff Outhouse's upcoming fund-raisers, not those of Gould.

In addition, the Republican Women's Club is headed up by Outhouse's wife, Paula Capocefalo, who happens to work for Dwyer in the county clerk's office.

(A historical note: A Republican committee endorsement does not assure a candidate a place on the fall ballot. Republican challenger in the 49th Senate District Tom Dadey was the golden boy, the chosen one of Republican upstate party chairs in 2004, but lost to incumbent Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann in the Republican primary. It proved that committee officials do not speak for all Republicans in the county.)

At the very least, Heary's endorsement is inappropriate and a violation of party rules. But more importantly, Republican committee members who have yet to cast their endorsement vote should be extremely disappointed that the party chairwoman has already spoken for them.