FOP President Nelson Cuba says incumbent Sheriff Rick Beseler has not kept his promises to the union and ran the department with an iron fist.

"Sheriff Beseler has the mentality, of what I would call, being that, I come from a communist country and being of Cuban descent, I would call a Fidel Castro mentality," Cuba said.

That why he says they are supporting Mike Taylor this fall.

But Beseler says the FOP is using an election to gain an edge in a long running labor dispute.

"It just a labor dispute, and they are using this as leverage against me in an election," Beseler said.

The two sides have been at odds over 'binding arbitration'. The union wants a third party arbitrator to have a say in discipline and other issues in the sheriff's office.

That is something that Beseler is firmly against, saying it would put too much power in the hands of an unelected official while costing the county too much money.

The most recent ruling on the dispute ruled in favor of the sheriff.

Beasler is facing two Republican challengers in the primary election in August, Mike Taylor and Gary Newman.