Kevin Bygd elected Dunn County sheriff
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Kevin Bygd, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department Captain of Field Services, was elected as sheriff of Dunn County in the November 6 election.
Bygd, a Boyceville resident, ran as a Republican and faced Democratic challenger Rod Dicus of Elk Mound, who serves as an investigator for the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department.
According to unofficial election results posted on the Dunn County clerk’s website, Bygd received 9,705 votes, and Dicus received 8,619 votes.
The Dunn County Board of Canvass was scheduled to meet November 13 to canvass and certify the results of the November 6 election.
Bygd has worked for the sheriff’s department for 29 years. He grew up in Prairie Farm and graduated from Prairie Farm High School in 1988. His father grew up in the Town of New Haven, and his mother grew up in the Town of Sheridan.
During his time at the sheriff’s department, Bygd has worked as a jailer, dispatcher, patrol deputy and as a firearms instructor. He became captain of field services in 2013.
As captain of field services, Bygd is third in command at the sheriff’s department behind the sheriff and the chief deputy. Bygd also serves as an ALICE instructor (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate) to teach people how to deal with an active shooter situation, and he is chair of the county’s school safety committee, which includes all of the school district administrators in the county and other law enforcement officials.
Dicus has worked for the Dunn County sheriff’s department for 32 years and is an investigator, primarily in the area of child protection. He grew up on a farm near Ladysmith and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Mt. Senario College. He became a dispatcher for Dunn County in 1986 and a few years later became a patrol deputy.
Dicus has been an investigator for the sheriff’s department for more than 10 years and is the department’s DARE instructor (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) in the county’s school districts.
Dicus won in all of the wards in the City of Menomonie with 3,191 votes, compared to 2,476 votes cast for Bygd, representing a difference of 715 more votes for Dicus.
In the towns and villages in Dunn County, Bygd received 7,229 votes, compared to 5,428 votes cast for Dicus, representing a difference of 1,801 more votes for Bygd.
According to news reports, about 54 percent of the voting-age population statewide cast ballots in the November 6 election, while the average turnout statewide for the last four midterm elections was somewhat less than 50 percent.
Locally, turnout was reported to be as high as 80 percent of registered voters in some precincts.
Clerk of Courts
Katie M. Schalley (Republican), the incumbent Clerk of Courts in Dunn County, was the only candidate on the November 6 ballot for Clerk of Courts.
She received 14,657 votes.
67th Assembly District
Two candidates were on the ballot for representative of the state’s 67th Assembly District.
According to published unofficial election results that had not yet been canvassed, incumbent Republican Representative Rob Summerfield of Bloomer received, 15,970 votes, and his Democratic challenger, Wren Keturi of Chippewa Falls, received 9,878 votes.
Summerfield was first elected as representative of the 67th Assembly District in 2016.
He graduated from Bloomer High School in 1998 and earned a degree in Business Administration from UW-Stout in 2002. For more than 10 years, he has helped run the family business, Two Acres Supper Club, and also is a co-owner of Chippewa Valley Land Title and helps run and manage Bloomer Bowl.
The 67th Assembly District covers the Towns of Colfax, Elk Mound, Grant, Hay River, Otter Creek, Red Cedar, Sand Creek, Sheridan, Sherman, Spring Brook, Tainter and Wilson; the Villages of Colfax, Elk Mound, Ridgeland and Wheeler; and parts of Barron and Chippewa Counties.
23rd Senate District
Two candidates were on the ballot for state Senator in the 23rd Senate District.
Kathy Bernier, the Republican candidate from Chippewa Falls, received 42,968 votes, while Democratic challenger Dr. Chris Kapsner of the Town of Sheridan received 29,631 votes.
Bernier currently is serving as the representative for the 68th Assembly District. She was elected to the state Assembly in 2010 and served as the Chippewa County clerk from 1999 to 2011 and was a trustee on the Lake Hallie Village Board from 2007 to 2011 and in 2015-2016.
The 23rd Senate District includes state Assembly Districts 67, 68 and 69.
The 67th Assembly District covers the Towns of Colfax, Elk Mound, Grant, Hay River, Otter Creek, Red Cedar, Sand Creek, Sheridan, Sherman, Spring Brook, Tainter and Wilson; the Villages of Colfax, Elk Mound, Ridgeland and Wheeler; and parts of Barron and all of Chippewa County except Boyd, Stanley, Lake Hallie, and the Towns of Hallie, Lafayette, Siegel, and Edson, which are in the 68th Assembly District.
In addition to parts of Chippewa County, the 68th Assembly District also includes parts of Eau Claire County, Clark County, Trempealeau County and Jackson County.
The 69th Assembly District includes parts of Clark County, Wood County and Marathon County.
U.S. Senator
Two candidates were on the November 6 ballot for United States Senator.
Tammy Baldwin, the incumbent Democratic United States Senator, received 1,471,904 votes, while Republican challenger Leah Vukmir received 1,183,061 votes.
Vukmir currently serves as the state Senator for the 5th Senate District, which includes Brookfield, Elm Grove, New Berlin, Wauwatosa and West Allis. She serves as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and also sits on the Joint Finance Committee and the Education Committee.
Vukmir previously served four terms in the state Assembly. She earned an undergraduate degree in nursing from Marquette University and a graduate degree from UW-Madison.
Senator Baldwin was elected to serve as representative for the state’s 78th Assembly District in 1992 and served three terms. In 1998, she was elected as representative to the 2nd Congressional District and served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives.
Baldwin was elected to her first term in the U.S. Senate in 2012 and was the first woman from Wisconsin to serve in the United States Senate. She earned a double major in mathematics and political science at Smith College, and in 1989, she earned a law degree from UW-Madison.
U.S. Representative
Two candidates were on the November 6 ballot for representative of Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
Incumbent U.S. Representative Ron Kind, the Democratic candidate on the ballot, received 187,615 votes, while Republican challenger Steve Toft received 126,897 votes.
Kind is a native of LaCrosse and has represented Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District since 1997.
Toft, who was born and raised on a farm in west central Wisconsin, graduated from Osseo-Fairchild High School, attended UW-Eau Claire and then enlisted in the United States Army where he served for 32 years.
Kind is a graduate of LaCrosse Logan High School and earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. He earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from the University of Minnesota.
Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District includes the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Grant, LaCrosse, Pepin, Pierce, Portage, Trempealeau and Vernon.
Governor
Democratic challengers for Wisconsin governor and lieutenant governor, Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes, received 1,324,648 votes, compared with 1,293,799 votes for incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
Wisconsin Green Party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Michael J. White and Tiffany Anderson, received 11,080 votes.
Independent Party candidates, Maggie Turnbull and Wil Losch, received 18,785 votes.
The Wisconsin Party candidate for governor, Arnie Enz, received 2,715 votes.
The ballot did not include a candidate for lieutenant governor for the Wisconsin Party.
Attorney general
Three candidates appeared on the ballot for state attorney general.
The Democratic candidate, Josh Kaul, received 1,310,300 votes.
Incumbent Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for attorney general, received 1,287,627 votes.
Terry Larson, the Constitution Party candidate, received 47,152 votes.
Secretary of state
Two candidates appeared on the November 6 ballot for secretary of state in Wisconsin.
Incumbent Secretary of State Doug La Follette, the Democratic candidate, received 1,380,202 votes.
Jay Schroeder, the Republican candidate, received 1,233,404 votes.
State treasurer
Three candidates appeared on the ballot for state treasurer.
The incumbent state treasurer, Republican Matt Adamczyk, did not appear on the ballot November 6.
Sarah Godlewski, the Democratic candidate, received 1,323,586 votes.
Travis Hartwig, the Republican candidate for state treasurer, received 1,215,553 votes.
Andrew Zuelke, the Constitution Party candidate for state treasurer, received 59,536 votes.
