By Matt Wilson

For the FCT

John Cantrell defeated Ray Hayse in the Franklin County Sheriff Republican primary June 3.

Cantrell, an investigator with the Littleville Police Department, said the win was inspirational to him.

“I am only 27 years old and people sometimes can get hung up on that,” Cantrell said.

“But I have been in law enforcement since I was 19 years old and this is really inspiring to see people give me this support.”

Cantrell said that he plans on shifting gears now that the primary race is over. He will face current sheriff Shannon Oliver in the general election in November.

“I guess the whole process is going to start over in the fall, but first I’m going to take a couple of weeks off from the campaign stuff,” Cantrell said.

“My wife just had a baby back in May so I’m going to go home and take a break and take care of them for a while.”

Cantrell’s newest addition to the family, Freya, will be just over five months old when he takes on current Franklin County Sheriff, Shannon Oliver, in November.

“My pastor told me that I must not have enough to do,” Cantrell said. “I guess I will now.”

Ray Hayse said he hopes the votes that he received head over to Cantrell in November.

“This is the second time I’ve run for sheriff and I had hoped for a little better turnout,” Hayse said. “I hope any support that came for me today will go to him in the fall.”

Cantrell said that the Littleville Police Department had been very good to him throughout the process.

“I’ve been with them for 4 going on 5 years now,” Cantrell said. “All the guys down there have been supportive. They called me all evening and asked me how everything was going.”