Candidate for Wake County sheriff charged with DWI in Holly Springs

David Blackwelder, an early candidate for Wake County sheriff who has also run unsuccessfully for county commissioner, was charged with driving while impaired late Thursday.

Holly Springs Police arrested Blackwelder, 35, of Wake Forest, on Holly Springs Road and Main Street just after 11 p.m.

“Like everyone accused,” he said via a direct message to The News & Observer on Friday, “I look forward to the opportunity to present my case in court.”

Blackwelder was an early critic of Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker, elected in 2018, and declared himself a Republican candidate for the next race in 2022 shortly afterward.

In 2018, he criticized Baker for ending Taser use among deputies, a decision he said in a tweet “will only lead to more deadly force.”

In 2019, as president of the Wake chapter of the N.C. Sheriff Police Alliance, he set up a GoFundMe page for a Raleigh officer wounded in a shooting.

In June, WRAL reported that as a police officer at WakeTech, he stirred controversty by tweeting, “As a person of color, you are afforded way more opportunities than a white male ... it just depends on whether you accept them.”

On his candidate website, Blackwelder stresses the importance of school safety and mental health resources.

“I wish to continue that passion for school security by increasing protection at our public schools and mentoring our youth,” he wrote. “I also believe that our senior citizens deserve the utmost respect and should be looked after whenever possible. “

Blackwelder lost in the 2018 race for county commissioner.

This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Candidate for Wake County sheriff charged with DWI in Holly Springs."