Door County voters in the Aug. 11 Wisconsin partisan primary election selected Curt Vandertie to run for sheriff on the Republican Party ticket against incumbent Sheriff Tammy Sternard, a Democrat, and independent candidate Randy Wagner in the Nov. 3 general election.
Also at the county level, Shannon Lauder won the primary to become the Democratic candidate for clerk of circuit court.
Here’s a look at the results of the county races as well as how Door County voted on primary races for U.S. and state offices, including governor, state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Door County primaries: Sheriff, clerk of court
Vandertie, a Door County sheriff’s deputy for the past 17 years and Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Department Chief for the past 18, outpolled Carl Waterstreet, who since 2021 has been the sheriff’s office’s first-ever Professional Standards Captain, with 61.5% of the votes, 3,114 to 1,951.
Vandertie has had a career in public safety in Door County for nearly three decades. He first joined the BUG Fire Department 29 years ago and also has worked 26 years in emergency medical services, serving as an EMT for the county and an emergency medical responder with BUG for 17 years, in addition to his time with the sheriff’s office.
In the November election, Vandertie will challenge Sternard, who is running for reelection to a third term. Sternard has served in the sheriff’s office for 33 years, including 10 as head of its Jail Division, before she was first elected sheriff in 2018. Sternard was unopposed for the Democratic ticket and garnered 4,732 votes.
Also running for sheriff in November is Wagner, a retired veteran of more than 20 years with the Denver Police Department who is running as an independent candidate.
In the circuit court clerk’s race, Lauder earned the Democratic candidacy by edging Shannon Lauder, 2,598 to 2,326. Lauder will face Becky Rericha, the only Republican candidate for the seat, on the November ballot to replace incumbent Connie DeFere, who is not seeking reelection.
Door County Sheriff
Door County Clerk of Courts
How Door County voted in governor, state Senate primaries
Milwaukee County Executive and former state representative David Crowley holds an extremely narrow lead over Francesca Hong of Madison, a chef and Assembly representative since 2021, in his comeback bid to earn the Democratic nomination for governor.
In a race too close to call as of 10:30 p.m. Aug. 11, Crowley had garnered about 39.9% of the vote to 39.8% for Hong, a difference of about 1,000 votes with 84% of precincts reporting. Current state Sen. Kelda Roys of Madison; and former Wisconsin Department of Administration Joel Brennan also were actively running, but each had only single digits of the percentage of votes.
The other names on the Democratic ballot are former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes, current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, but they since have dropped out of the race.
Among Door County voters, Crowley received 2,479 votes to 1,737 for Hong, 531 for Roys and 349 for Brennan.
Whoever wins between Crowley and Hong advances to run for governor against Republican nominee Tom Tiffany, a U.S. House of Representatives member since 2020, who handily defeated political newcomer Andy Manske in the GOP primary. With about two-thirds of precincts reporting, Tiffany had more than 95% of the vote. In Door County, Tiffany won 4,461 votes to 364 for Manske.
Also, in a four-person race among Republicans to earn the party’s nomination for the 1st District of the Wisconsin State Senate, which covers all of Door County and other parts of Northeast Wisconsin, Nic Cravillion of New Franken is the projected winner. With almost 86% of votes counted across the district, Cravillion had 42.4% of the vote to 24.2% for Katie Baney, 20.3% for Barbara Bittner and 13.1% for Sturgeon Bay farmer and combat veteran Jacob VandenPlas.
Cravillion advances to the November election in the race to replace incumbent Republican Sen. Andre Jacque, who is retiring. Cravillion is a veteran and local small-business owner who served as Jacque’s district director for five years and recently picked up his endorsement. No Democrats are seeking the seat but small-business owner and former Republican Party of Brown County chair Mark Becker is running as an independent candidate.
In Door County, Cravillion won 1,638 votes, VandenPlas 1,199, Baney 1,122 and Bittner 701.
How Door County voted in the U.S. Congressional primary
Another close race is the Democratic primary for the 8th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes all of Door County and most of northeastern Wisconsin.
As of 10:30 p.m. election night, with about 82% of votes counted, 20-year Army veteran and former Green Bay School Board member Rick Crosson holds a narrow lead over retired business owner and wealth management advisor Mark Scheffler, 35.6% to 32.7%, with transgender singer and political outsider Katrina deVille also close at 31.6%. The winner will run against Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Tony Wied in November.
Door County voters gave 2,003 votes to Crosson, 1,557 to Scheffler and 1,390 to deVille.
How Door County voted in other state primary races
Three state offices are up for election in November had contested party primaries, and all had projected winners by 10 p.m. election night.
On the Republican side, with about 69% of precincts reporting, David Varnam is projected to win the nomination for lieutenant governor with 54.1% of the vote to Will Martin’s 45.4, and Jay Schroeder has 46.4% of the vote to 26.1% for Nate Pollnow, 14.2% for Cindy Werner and 13% for Brayden Myer.
Door County voters went for Varnam, 2,485 to 1,526, and Schroeder won 2,132 secretary of state votes to 683 for Pollnow, 679 for Werner and 487 for Myer.
Democratic voters were picking their nominee for state treasurer, and with almost 76% of votes counted, Yee Leng Xiong, who was declared the winner, held 57.5% of the vote to 42.1% for Dylan Ray Helmenst. In Door County, Xiong garnered 2,533 votes to 2,101 for Helmenst.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Vandertie wins GOP primary for Door County sheriff
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
