NEWS
In typically Democratic county, GOP victory raises eyebrows
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Also by Shivan Gulati:
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by Shivan Gulati
Friday, November 22, 2002
It should come as no surprise to those familiar with Madison’s liberal reputation that not one precinct in the city reported a Republican majority in the elections for governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general earlier this month. But some UW political leaders are still mulling over the one Republican landslide victory.
The big shocker came in the Dane County Sheriff’s race, where 77 percent of the vote went to Republican Gary Hamblin, who defeated Green Party candidate Adam Benedetto. Nearly every precinct went to the incumbent.
Even UW College Republicans vice chair Benjamin Krautkramer said he was somewhat intrigued by the results of the election. Krautkramer avoided attributing the results to the lack of a democratic candidate.
“There just aren’t an overwhelming number of Republicans in the city of Madison,” Krautkramer said. “I think that if there’s ever a place where you are going to be willing to elect a Republican to office [in Dane County], it is in a law and order position.”
UW College Democrats chairman Steven Singh staunchly disagreed, saying that if a Democratic candidate had been in the race, the outcome would have been significantly different.
“The Democratic Party is by far the strongest political party in this county,” Singh said. “A Democratic candidate in the race would have created a larger voter turnout, more publicity and coverage, and you definitely would have seen a closer race.”
Hamblin, who has already served two terms as Dane County sheriff, was literally guaranteed re-election after it was announced that no Democratic candidate would be in the race, according to Singh.
“I don’t believe the Democratic Party endorsed anyone,” he said. “It wasn’t a very high profile race, and it’s difficult for a newcomer like Adam to beat an incumbent like that.”
Both Krautkramer and Singh agreed the experience gap between the two candidates played a large role in Hamblin’s re-election.
“First of all, Hamblin’s an incumbent, and incumbents always lend themselves to easier re-elections,” Singh said. “The fact that no democrat ran caused fewer voters to be cast in that race. A lot of people who went in to go and vote Democrat just didn’t vote in that race, so the low voter turnout helped Hamblin quite a bit.”
In addition, Krautkramer described the sheriff’s position as having historically remained Republican.
“The Dane County sheriff has traditionally seen a string of Republicans fill the position in recent elections,” Krautkramer said. “I won’t say too many negative things about Adam [Benedetto], but there was a significant experience gap between the Republican and Green Party candidates.”
