Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek defeats challenger

Sheriff James van Beek will serve a third term after a late round of ballot counting Tuesday showed the incumbent to be defeating challenger Paul Agneberg by more than 9,000 votes.

Agneberg had 4,113 votes as of 9:04 p.m. on Tuesday to van Beek’s 13,154.

It was a much larger margin of victory than van Beek’s last challenge in the general election, which came in 2014.

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After running as an independent in the general election against incumbent Joe Hoy in 2010, van Beek decided to challenge Hoy as a Republican in the primary in 2014, where he garnered 1,337 votes to Hoy’s 890.

Van Beek then went on to defeat Democrat Daric Harvey by just 58 votes in the general election in 2014.

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In running for a second term in 2018, van Beek went unchallenged.

Van Beek’s 2022 challenger, lifelong Vail-area local Paul Agneberg, is a much different opponent than van Beek saw in Harvey and Hoy.

While his previous opponents also worked in law enforcement at the time of running for office, Agneberg describes his occupation as an herbalist, Rites of Passage guide, and Rainbow Warrior.

The election caught statewide attention in October after a candidate’s forum resulted in the arrest of Agneberg by undersheriff Dan Loya and Deputy Jordan Harrison. Agneberg and van Beek debated at the candidate’s forum, at which time van Beek revealed that Agneberg had a warrant out for his arrest. Agneberg was arrested outside the building as he attempted to leave the event.

The Sheriff’s Office issued a press release the following day, saying “running for Sheriff when you have a pattern of only showing up to court under bench warrants, is certainly a new approach to campaigning.”

Agneberg, who was wanted in two counties for traffic violations, said he wanted to put an end to incarceration for non-violent offenses like his.

In the Eagle County Sheriff’s press release, van Beek was quoted as saying “I admire my deputies for always doing their jobs, without fear of reprisal or political repercussions, and for executing restraint in effectuating the arrest, until after the candidate forum.” 

Van Beek was born and raised in Colorado, a first-generation American and the son of Dutch immigrants in a family of six kids. His parents came to the U.S. in 1957. He joined the Army right after graduating from high school. He got out of the Army in 1989 and came to Eagle County, where then-Sheriff A.J. Johnson hired and mentored him. He had 10 consecutive years with the Sheriff’s Office, worked the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships, then headed security on Vail Mountain.

Under a U.S. State Department contract with the U.N., he went to war-torn Kosovo and Afghanistan and built civilian police forces to help keep peace when U.N. forces left.

He said he has worked in high-threat environments, sitting at tables with the Taliban and al-Qaida.

“In Kosovo and Afghanistan, I had command positions dealing with diverse groups, community elders and people from all walks of life,” van Beek told the Vail Daily in 2014. “We had to learn how different people perceive things. Even police officers from different areas of the U.S. see things differently. It taught me to appreciate other points of view and perspectives.”

After Kosovo, he spent four and a half years in Afghanistan. During his time off, he’d fly home and volunteer as a patroller with the Sheriff’s Office, he said.

“I used it as an opportunity to expand my experience, my vision and understanding. I can bring that back here and it can be used for our community,” he said.

After the 9 p.m. results were published, van Beek said he was “honored” by the votes for him. “It reaffirms we’re doing something right,” he noted. And, van Beek said, the next four years will present a number of new challenges to law enforcement. But, he added, “We’re going to continue to build bridges — we’re going to keep Eagle County a great place to live.”