In the Kenosha County race for sheriff, incumbent David Zoerner is running against write-in Democrat Gary Roberts.
Voter Lorrie Sailor, an Alabama-born Navy veteran, left the sheriff section on her ballot blank this year because she believes the position should be nonpartisan. “Certain things shouldn’t be political because when you’re saying that you’re taking care of everybody, it’s a lie when you’re not,” she said.
Sailor’s decision doesn’t reflect disinterest, she said. She became invested in local politics in part because of shootings by law enforcement officers, even before the August 2020 shooting of Jacob Blake.
“Years before it happened, I would say that we were gonna be on national news,” she said. Sailor doesn’t believe much has improved since the unrest six years ago. “Kenosha could easily be back in the limelight,” she added.
Mark Miller, a mental health counselor originally from Illinois, left the sheriff section blank for the same reason. The 2020 unrest only amplified tensions in Kenosha, he said, and fueled his daughter’s political awakening. “She knew one of the people that (Kyle Rittenhouse) shot,” he said.
Miller, a longtime gun owner and Second Amendment supporter, says the deepening of partisan hostilities since Donald Trump first took office in 2016 leaves him worried about political violence. He already carries openly, and he’s considering arming himself further if Republicans win this year. He sees little space for Black gun owners like himself in Wisconsin’s Second Amendment activism sphere.
The events of 2020 also still loom large for some conservative Kenosha voters. Recently retired teacher Greg Schneider sees reminders whenever he drives through the city. “I look where most of it took place and see that we have new neighborhoods, new buildings, because they burnt the other ones down,” he said.
Schneider worries those traces of the unrest are lost on younger voters. “People have short memories,” he said.
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