In May, Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson faced a vigorous challenge in the Republican primary from an ex-deputy who accused him of poor leadership and blamed him for a number of deputies leaving the department for higher pay in Spokane.

Watson won by a 2-to-1 margin.

Now, with no Democrat on the ballot, Watson is opposed on Tuesday’s general election ballot by independent Arthur “Skip” Ingle, who discounts the incumbent’s lengthy law-enforcement experience. Ingle says the sheriff’s job is about management, something he says he gained as a union shop steward while driving a truck for a school district. Besides, Ingle has argued, he would provide a different perspective.

We find nothing wrong with Watson’s perspective, but more important, we think his credentials are eminently more suited for Kootenai County’s top law-enforcement job than Ingle’s.

A Post Falls native and ex-Marine, Watson has had two tours of duty as sheriff, the first admittedly stormy, to say the least. That was in the late 1970s when he was young and, by his own admission, overzealous and inexperienced.

That first term was followed by a re-election defeat, a hiatus as owner of a private security company and, in 1999, appointment by county commissioners as sheriff again. More mature, more seasoned, Watson won election in 2000 and 2004. He deserves voters’ support once more next week.

Even in that first term three decades ago, Watson made it clear he expected integrity and professionalism from his deputies. He showed that again when the courthouse was jolted with an e-mail scandal, promptly imposing discipline and training to spell a halt to his department’s share of the problem. In the meantime, he’s had to oversee a major crime case – Joseph Duncan – under a national spotlight. Now he’s struggling to promote two ballot measures to fund a badly needed facilities upgrade for his office.

Watson has juggled those tasks with skill, and Kootenai County voters can expect him to keep up the good work in the next four years.