Local Tea Party Leader Runs for County Sheriff in NH

Jerry DeLemus, a founder of Rochester 9/12 who headed up security at Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada in a stand against the government, is running for sheriff in Strafford County.

DeLemus, a Republican and past chairman of the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC, is challenging the incumbent, Sheriff David G. Dubois, a registered Democrat from Rochester.

The annual operating budget for the Strafford County Sheriff's office, based in Dover, N.H., is approximately $1.5 million, according to the county commissioners' website.

DeLemus is a retired Marine and a self-employed construction worker. He and his wife, Susan, have been notably active in local politics since the Tea Party revolution of 2010. They espouse limited government and liberty in the letter of the Constitution.

Last spring, DeLemus and the 9/12 group in Rochester held a meeting to discuss forming a militia, as John Nolan reported in the local newspaper, Foster's Daily Democrat.

New Hampshire has always had a libertarian streak to its politics, and the state of 1.3 million people has what political observers refer to as a decentralized government, in that local control is vested to a large degree in towns and cities, as well the 10 counties. Liberty activists embrace New Hampshire's Constitution for its Article 10, the "Right of Revolution."

WMUR-TV reported that DeLemus was in charge of security at Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada during the stand-off between federal law enforcement and protesters. In that role, DeLemus met and turned away the couple that killed two police officers in Las Vegas.