By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Tuesday, Nov. 5, is Election Day again in Portage County and the rest of Wisconsin as voters go to the polls to elect county and state leaders.
On the ballot for Portage County offices, there are no races listed, with all candidates unopposed. But a write-in campaign has begun for sheriff where John Charewicz is challenging Jack Mrozinski, winner of the Democratic nomination in the September primary.
Mrozinski, a deputy sheriff for community policing, collected 4,758 of the 13,281 votes cast for sheriff, or 35.8 percent, to defeat Charewicz, who had 4,262, and Ron Carlson, who had 4,261.
Two weeks ago, Charewicz, a retired sergeant in the Sheriff's Department, announced the write-in bid, with the support of Carlson.
In the primary, Mrozinski won in 21 of the county's 40 precincts, while Carlson won in 12 and Charewicz six. Mrozinski and Carlson tied in the town of Linwood.
Mrozinski won in the towns of Almond, Amherst, Buena Vista, Carson, Dewey, Eau Pleine, Grant, New Hope, Pine Grove and Stockton, two wards in the town of Plover, the 11th Ward in Stevens Point and every village except Park Ridge and Whiting.
Charewicz won in the towns of Alban, Belmont, Hull, Lanark, Sharon and the other two wards in the town of Plover.
Carlson, a Stevens Point police sergeant, won the other 10 city wards and the two villages Mrozinski lost in.
A write-in campaign has always been an uphill battle, but today's ballots present less of a challenge than in recent years. When municipalities used voting machines, like the village of Whiting still does, writing in a candidate's name was more difficult. Now, voters already have a pencil in their hand to mark a ballot and only have to write in a name on the ballot under the office where a write-in candidate has declared an intention to run.
Charewicz is the only declared write-in candidate for a county office.
The winner of the sheriff's race will become the county's first sheriff under a four-year term and will succeed Stan Potocki who did not seek re-election.
The candidates for the other county offices are unopposed. They are Republican Scott Rifleman for coroner and Democrats Stephanie Stokes for treasurer, Bernadette Flatoff for clerk of Circuit Court, Thomas Eagon for district attorney, Roger Wrycza for county clerk, Cynthia A. Wisinski for register of deeds and Joseph Glodowski for surveyor.
Every Assembly district in the county has a contest.
In the 70th District, where incumbent Mary Ann Lippert, R-Pittsville, isn't seeking re-election, Democrat Amy Sue Vruwink of Milladore faces Republican Gary C. Meyer of Auburdale. The district includes portions of Wood County and gerrymanders through Portage County, including the towns of Carson, Dewey, Eau Pleine, Hull, Linwood and Sharon; the village of Junction City; Ward 3 of the town of Grant; Wards 1 and 4 of the town of Plover; and Ward 2 of the village of Milladore.
The 71st Assembly District includes Portage County and a portion of Waushara County, and incumbent Democrat Julie Lassa of Plover, faces Republican Leo Harris of Bancroft. The Portage County area of the district includes the towns of Almond, Amherst, Belmont, Buena Vista, Lanark, New Hope, Pine Grove and Stockton; the villages of Almond, Amherst, Amherst Junction, Nelsonville, Park Ridge, Plover and Whiting; the city of Stevens Point; and Wards 2 and 3 in the town of Plover.
In the 72nd Assembly District, incumbent Democrat Marlin Schneider of Wisconsin Rapids faces Republican Thomas P. Ziegler of Wisconsin Rapids. The 72nd includes only Wards 1 and 2 in the town of Grant in Portage County.
In the 86th Assembly District, incumbent Republican Jerry Petrowski of Marathon faces Democrat Jeff Starr. The district is new to the county through reapportionment after the 2000 Census and includes only the town of Alban and the village of Rosholt.
The 12th Senate District, which includes the 86th Assembly District, also features a contest between incumbent Democrat Russ Decker of Schofield and Republican Jimmy Boy Edming. Decker was recently elected co-majority leader of the state Senate.
In another area race U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, is challenged by Republican Joe Rothbauer.
The spotlight for the election throughout the state has been on the governor's race, where incumbent Republican Scott McCallum faces Democrat James Doyle, Libertarian Ed Thompson and Jim Young of the Green Party, plus four lesser-known independents.
Other statewide races incumbent Republican Margaret Farrow and Democrat Barbara Lawton for lieutenant governor, incumbent Republican Jack Voight and Democrat Dawn Marie Sass for treasurer, and incumbent Democrat Douglas La Follette and Republican Robert Gerald Lorge for secretary of state.