JACKSON (AP) — A former county employee in Mississippi who said he was fired after seeking election as sheriff has been awarded compensatory damages of more than $83,000 in his lawsuit against the county’s board of supervisors.

The Clarion-Ledger reports the man’s lawyer says a federal jury Wednesday found that Chickasaw County terminated Lamon K. Griggs as a solid waste enforcement officer in September 2015 and as court bailiff in December 2015 because he ran against a then-long-time chief deputy and now sheriff.

Griggs alleged he was fired because he wasn’t the board’s preferred candidate and ran as independent. His lawsuit says Chickasaw County is mainly Democratic unlike the majority of Mississippi. Griggs’ attorney Jim Waide said in a statement the county claimed it eliminated Griggs’ positon because of a lack of funds.