Joey briefed me a bit about his relationship with Johnny Brown, an Ellis County sheriff candidate. Joey said he considered Johnny a good friend but still encouraged me to move forward with what I am about to write.

County/District Attorney Joe Grubbs appeared at Johnny’s Nay-sponsored “barn dance” over the weekend. Not that this is a problem (Joey chimes in during our conversation and says, “To be fair, James Ledbetter has showed up at Grubbs’ challenger, Rodney Ramsey’s events”), but one must ask themselves what dozens of supporters are doing publicly backing Brown.

Yard signs don’t determine the outcome of an election, but they project perception. The perception is that among every Brown sign there’s also a Grubbs one next to it.

It’s a fact that high-profile backers of Brown are working in close proximity professionally to Grubbs’ office, so it would be natural to assume that this relationship would materialize politically.

However, does Brown want the perception that the DA’s office is supporting him? Whether or not these guys are friends is not the issue. What matters is that of all of the corruption in this county, Grubbs’ fingerprints (Joey says it’s a 50-50 split between Grubbs and Judge Gene Knize) are all over it.

When and if Johnny Brown gets in the sheriff’s office as our new lawman, will we want someone aligned with the current DA administration? Perception is reality in politics.