Kevin Sorenson announced his intentions to run for Portage Co. Sheriff last September. (Contributed photo)

By Brandi Makuski

Portage County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Sorenson has announced he will not run as a write-in candidate for Portage County Sheriff in November.

Sorenson was one of four contestants for the position held by John Charewicz for the past 12 years. Charewicz ran as a write-in candidate against two registered opponents, making him the underdog, but announced earlier this year he would not seek reelection and threw his support behind Sorenson.

Sorenson lost the Democratic primary on August 12 after running neck-in-neck with Mike Lukas. Lukas won a total of 3,000 votes; Sorenson trailed at 2,770.

Since the election, Sorenson said he’s been working with his supporters to determine whether he could successfully run a write-in campaign. On Wednesday he said the decision to not run was finalized.

“The campaign gloves need to come off now and stand by Mike Lukas as we go into the general election,” Sorenson said. “A write-in campaign is possible, but the things that would be said between now and then (Election Day) would cause some undue problems and we don’t need that.”

Sorenson said his decision to run was based on a genuine decision in the sheriff’s office and in the community, and it still remains.

I”ll continue to be a patrol sergeant and help Mike in his new leadership role and moving the community and the department forward,” he said. “We’ve played together, worked together, we play gold together. He’s been with me through some difficult times, and I work closely with him. We need to get  behind him  now and work together.”

Sorenson said he was disappointed with his decision but says he knew it was best for the community.

“You don’t like to lose, but that’s our democratic process. Not everyone can be a winner. Being called sheriff does not define who I am; there’s more to my life than my title and my job. A lot of people worked very hard for the campaign and gave a lot of money and I’m grateful for that. But I’ll still be around for a long time.”