Gerber likely to be next Walworth County sheriff with no Democratic challenger
In a race that switched leads several times as more and more precincts closed Tuesday night, the Republican primary for Walworth County Sheriff went to undersheriff Dave Gerber.
According to unofficial final results from Walworth County, Gerber tallied 8,149 votes to 7,943 for Craig Konopski.
The race was tight for most of the evening, as Gerber led by less than 20 votes with 33 of 36 precincts reporting.
Konopski and Gerber are both current members of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department, with Gerber currently serving as undersheriff to retiring Kurt Picknell and Konopski an investigator.
“I would like to thank all the voters and those who have supported me throughout this campaign,” Gerber said. “ I look forward to serving all the citizens of Walworth County as your sheriff.”
As undersheriff, Gerber is second in command, oversees all the office operations and is responsible for the department’s $28 million budget. Among his past duties are chair of the Walworth County Traffic Safety Commission, and administering the Traffic Crash Investigation Team, the Fugitive Task Force and the Gang Unit, among other responsibilities.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in criminal justice and a minor in sociology. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, has served as an instructor at Gateway Technical College and has conducted instructor recertification at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
Gerber has has 27 years of full-time law enforcement experience, starting with the Village of East Troy Police Department. He joined the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department in 1997 – and continued as a part-time officer for another 15 years.
In other primaries of local importance, Ellen Schutt won the Republican District 31 primary over Maryann Zimmerman and Jason Dean. Schutt will run in November to replace Amy Loudenbeck, who is running for Secretary of State.
Loudenbeck was the projected winner as of 10:10 p.m. Tuesday evening.
