Three candidates vie for Marquette County Sheriff in competitive race

This summer has seen a competitive race for the candidates running in the Marquette County Sheriff election. Three candidates are vying for the position.

All three candidates work in law enforcement, and all have their own visions for Marquette County.

Current Marquette County Undersheriff Mike Klein wanted to put more patrol cars on the roads.

"I believe it's important because of the sheer size of Marquette County," he said. "It's 1,865+ square miles. We need, i believe, to work with the county commissioner to reestablish 24-hour road patrol in Marquette County so we can better protect our citizens."

Marquette County Deputy Lowell Larson had some ideas to make police work more efficient, including new ways to use technology.

"Put GPS trackers into the patrol cars, so that central dispatch will have a live feed of where all patrols are at," he said. "This will increase officer safety and will also speed up our response time by not having to call the radio and ask where each individual officer is at."

Chocolay Township Police Chief Greg Zyburt said he had the experience to deal with the most important Marquette County issues.

"Right now, it's the meth problem, not only in Marquette, but nationwide," he said. "Of course, domestic abuse is always at the top of the list, and crimes against children are really important."

All three candidates are running on the Democratic ticket. That means the August 2 Democratic primary will most likely decide the next sheriff.