been elected to office, being a convicted felon, he would not have been allowed to carry a gun, although he had claimed he would work to have that privilege restored. The North Carolina Supreme Court's ruling in Britt v. State, No. 488A07 on August 28, 2009 overturned the law prohibiting convicted non-violent felons from firearm possession. However, all of these issues became moot when Hege lost the May 2010 Republican primary to incumbent David Grice by almost 6,000 votes. Grice carried all 43 precincts in Davidson County. Hege has said that he plans to run again, although the 2010 passage of an amendment to the North Carolina state constitution barring convicted felons from serving as sheriff made another run unlikely. 2018 election campaign On February 28, 2018, Hege filed to run for the Davidson County Sheriff office once again. According to Hege (and confirmed by Clerk of Court Brian Shipwash) his record was expunged of the felonies he pled to in 2003. A new North Carolina law passed in December 2017 reduced the wait period for application for felony expungements from 15 to 10 years. In April 2018, the Davidson County Board of Elections denied a challenge to Hege's ability to run for Sheriff and his candidacy was approved. This made the election a four-man race including incumbent Grice, Hege, former deputy Greg Wood and former highway patrolman Richie Simmons. On May 8, the election was held and Hege came in third place behind Simmons and Grice. References External links Opinion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnx90jN7Eo4 /Tony Papa on Inside Cell Block F Advocating for Rehabilatative Prison Programs North Carolina sheriffs 1948 births Living people People from Davidson County, North Carolina