Former Ohio sheriff switches parties to join Republicans: 'Democrats showed me the door'

A former Cincinnati, Ohio sheriff said Thursday he has left the Democratic Party to join Republicans.

"I left office January 4th of 2021. And I pretty much have taken the year off … I also, did a lot of serious thinking. And you have to ask yourself which party better represents and accepts Catholicism, also, which party follows, accepts the rule of law. And which party better accepts a man in uniform," former Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil told "Fox & Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt.

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Neil said the Democratic Party ejected him before he made a formal decision to leave the party.

"The Democratic Party showed me the door. Obviously, they pulled my endorsement in 2020, and in 2016 16, I won the general election by 63%. So, I was there for a while," Neil said, adding he has done some "serious thinking" during retirement 

"I truly believe the Republican Party, my values fit in better. Being Catholic, being law enforcement, following, believing in the rule of law."

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Neil's decision came during a deadly year for police officers in America. 

A "historic" 346 police officers were shot in the line of duty in 2021 — 63 of whom were killed, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which represents more than 346,000 U.S. law enforcement officers.

The number of officers shot in the line of duty last year is up from 312 officers shot in 2020, 47 of whom were killed, and 293 shot in 2019, 50 of whom were killed, according to an FOP analysis.

"As we have said before, the recent erosion of respect for law enforcement and anti-police rhetoric has fueled more aggression towards police officers than what has been seen in previous years,"  FOP President Patrick Yoes told Fox News in a statement. 

Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.