Isabella County Sheriff race results not yet tallied, Mioduszewski secured steady lead over opponent

Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski appears slated to be re-elected after a long night of waiting for results.

With five precincts reporting, Republican-incumbent Mioduszewski leads Democratic candidate Theodore "Ted" Visner 2,0497 to 1,356 as of 11:10 p.m. Tuesday.

After polls closed Tuesday night, Mioduszewski said it's typical for results to take a while because of the number of votes to be counted.

"There's so many more voters voting in the general election than in the primary election," he said. "It's not unusual."

Running for sheriff for his third consecutive term on the Republican ballot, Mioduszewski said his 27 years of law enforcement experience, including eight as Isabella County Sheriff, set him apart from his competition.

Mioduszewski said if elected into another term as sheriff, he would keep training deputies and corrections officers an important aspect of his job. He said that means the department must continue to keep up with new technology and laws, Central Michigan Life previously reported.

Mioduszewski received endorsement from both the Republican and Democratic Party prior to the primary election in August.

On the other side, this election marks Visner’s first run in politics and first potential experience in law enforcement. Prior to running for sheriff, Viser spent his career in business, as previously reported by CM Life.

Democratic sheriff hopeful Visner said his plan for the county was to incorporate transparency, criticizing the incumbent for working in secrecy.

Visner said no matter a win or a loss in the sheriff race, he still wants to help the citizens of Isabella County.

"I will make myself available to every citizen by maintaining an open door policy with the public, the citizens of Isabella County, whether you voted for me or not," he said on his website.

Visner said the law enforcement’s job is to protect citizens, which he feels has not been a priority in the recent past.

On his website, he said some of his main goals, if elected sheriff, would have been to create new jobs through the implementation of an Internal Affairs Department, put an end to frivolous spending and reduce the volume of lawsuits against the department and the county itself.