(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha County voters will see only one name printed on the ballot for sheriff this November after Gary Roberts failed twice in his efforts to qualify — first as an independent candidate and then as a Democratic write-in candidate.
Roberts, the City of Kenosha’s Director of Inspections and a former police officer, initially sought to run for sheriff as an independent. To secure a place on the November ballot through that route, Roberts needed to submit 500 valid nomination signatures. He failed to gather enough signatures to qualify.
After failing to make the ballot as an independent, Roberts changed course and sought the Democratic nomination for sheriff as a registered write-in candidate in Tuesday’s partisan primary.
That effort also came up short.
The official Kenosha County registered write-in report for the August 11 primary specifically identifies “Gary Roberts” as the registered Democratic write-in candidate for County Sheriff.
Although election-night results initially showed 2,242 total write-in votes cast in the Democratic sheriff race, those were all write-in votes — not necessarily votes for Roberts. The county’s candidate-specific report released Wednesday shows Roberts actually received just 1,185 votes.
That wasn’t enough.
Wisconsin law requires a write-in candidate seeking a party nomination to receive a minimum number of votes tied to the nomination-signature requirement for the office. Roberts needed enough Democratic write-in votes to qualify for placement on the November ballot, and his 1,185 votes fell short.
It was Roberts’ second unsuccessful attempt to secure a spot on the November ballot in the same election cycle.
First, he failed to gather the required signatures as an independent. Roberts then switched strategies, sought the Democratic nomination as a write-in candidate, and failed to receive enough write-in votes in Tuesday’s primary.
The result means Republican Sheriff David Zoerner will be the only candidate whose name is printed on the ballot for Kenosha County Sheriff in November.
Zoerner secured the Republican nomination Tuesday in a closely watched three-way primary against Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office Captain Tony Gonzalez and Kenosha Police Captain James Beller. Zoerner received 7,045 votes, or 49.77%, finishing ahead of Gonzalez and Beller despite receiving less than half of the Republican vote.
Roberts had hoped to provide a November alternative.
His candidacy took an unusual path. After portraying himself as an independent, Roberts was unable to satisfy the ballot-access requirements necessary to run that way. His subsequent decision to seek the Democratic nomination offered him another potential route onto the November ballot, but that effort ended Wednesday when the candidate-specific write-in totals showed he had again failed to qualify.
The county report leaves no ambiguity about how many of Tuesday’s Democratic write-in votes actually belonged to Roberts. While 2,242 write-in votes were cast in the race overall, Roberts received 1,185 of them.
As a result, barring another legally available write-in candidacy in November, voters choosing among candidates whose names are actually printed on the ballot will have a single choice for Kenosha County Sheriff:
David Zoerner.
2 Responses
Somebody tell me why this isn’t legal or possible.
#HOPE