| Field | Detail | Source |
|---|
| Full Name | John Horch | T1 |
| Residence | Vancouver, Clark County (campaign committee registered in Vancouver, ZIP 98685). Grew up in Clark County. | T1 |
| Party | No party designation is listed on the Secretary of State candidate filing for this office. | T1 |
| Education | Graduate of Hudson's Bay High School, Vancouver. Holds a bachelor's degree in Organizational Leadership and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. | T1 |
| Employment | 35th elected Sheriff of Clark County. Won the November 2022 general election with about 54 percent of the vote and was sworn in December 22, 2022, succeeding retiring Sheriff Chuck Atkins.; Career with the Clark County Sheriff's Office since 1989. Before election as sheriff he was Chief Criminal Deputy under Sheriff Atkins. Prior assignments include Drug Task Force Commander, Major Crimes, Internal Affairs Supervisor, Field Training Officer, Bomb Technician, Warrants, Search and Rescue, Sergeant, Detective, and Patrol Deputy. | T1 |
2 Political Positions
| Topic | Position | Source |
|---|
| | T2 |
| | T2 |
3 Campaign Finance (PDC T1 Data)
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|
| Filing Entity | PDC filer HORCJ--665 (John Horch), jurisdiction CLARK CO, 2026 cycle as of 2026-07-04: total raised $5,600.00, total spent $2,791.62, cash carried forward $0.00, loans $0.00, debts $0.00. Committee treasurer Michelle Horch. Source: WA PDC SODA API (data.wa.gov, dataset 3h9x-7bvm), record updated 2026-06-30, as_of 2026-07-04. | T1 |
4 Notable Public Statements
5 Vulnerability Assessment
1 sourced findings. All sourced at T1 (Official Record) or T2 (Multi-Source Media) per clearthemud provenance model. No T3/T4 claims included.
Finding 5.1: Documented 2004 demotion and suspension in his sheriff's office personnel record MODERATE
- What happened
- Horch's Clark County Sheriff's Office personnel file records formal discipline in 2004. In May 2004 he was involuntarily demoted from Enforcement Sergeant to Deputy Sheriff II following a domestic-incident report involving his then-wife that occurred during duty hours in April 2004. Later that year he received a two-week suspension without pay for removing diversity posters from two precincts, which he said he did while upset over the demotion. A 2000 evaluation also noted he mislaid a firearm booked into property until it was found in his patrol car, with no formal discipline. The record was reviewed and reported during his 2022 campaign, and Horch has publicly acknowledged it.
- Source tier
- T2
- Political impact
- Moderate
- Defense
- The discipline is more than 20 years old and predates any command or elected role. Horch has publicly acknowledged it, attributed it to a period of personal difficulty around his divorce, and stated he stopped drinking in 2004 and joined a recovery group he continues to attend. He was subsequently promoted through the ranks to Chief Criminal Deputy and elected sheriff in 2022. Voters returned him to a supervisory career and then to the top office after this record was public.
- https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/sheriffs-candidate-john-horch-addresses-errors-made-during-his-tenure-at-the-clark-county-sheriffs-office/
- https://www.columbian.com/news/2022/nov/01/horch-admits-early-job-issues-at-clark-county-sheriffs-office/
6 Source Verification
- Data Sources
- WA SOS, WA PDC, local media, public records
- Collection Date
- 2026-07-04
- Highest Tier
- T1 (Official Record)
- Methodology
- OSINT deep-dive using exclusively public-record sources. All findings at T1 or T2. No T3/T4 claims included.