Gaston County Sheriff Cloninger changing courses in dramatic fashion Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger changed his political party on Wednesday and also announced he would not run for re-election next year. Cloninger had announced in May he would be seeking a fourth full term as sheriff after first being appointed in 2005. Cloninger, 64, went to the Gaston County Board of Elections office on Wednesday afternoon and switched his party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated, according to county election records. "Throughout my life, I have been a conservative Democrat as my father and family have always been," Cloninger wrote in a statement.