Racine County sheriff race, Republicans on primary ballot

RACINE, Wis. - The race for Racine County sheriff is wide open, and in the partisan primary Tuesday, voters will decide who they want to move on to the November general election.

FOX6 News spoke to the two Republican candidates, Cary Madrigal and Henry Perez, who hope to advance to the November ballot. A Democrat, Don Vandervest, is running without opposition in the Democratic primary.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

Who are the candidates?

The backstory:

Madrigal has worked in the Racine County Sheriff's Office for 26 years. She has been sheriff's captain for the past six years.

"From when I started over 25 years ago, I've seen a very positive trajectory within our agency, and I want to continue to see that going forward," Madrigal said.

Perez ran for mayor in 2023 and served as Racine's District 12 alderman for 13 years. He lost the seat in reelection in April. He now runs his own church private safety company and is a special education dual-language teacher in the Racine Unified School District. He never worked in the Racine County Sheriff's Office but did spend 18 years in law enforcement in Miami.

"I wanted to be the sheriff for the last 13 years because I have been looking at the department, I have been seeing things that have been going on here, and I definitely see things that could improve," Perez said.

What's important to the candidates?

What they're saying:

If Madrigal is elected, she said she wants to prioritize mental health for her employees.

"I would really like to see our officers get the opportunity to go and speak to a mental health professional. We have that sort of set up now, but I would like to see where it’s a yearly thing," Madrigal said.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Perez wants to try to accredit the Racine County Jail at a national level. He wants to bring more accountability to the system.

"The jail is really important. I’ve had complaints from family members that the prisoners are not being treated well, that they’re not given medications at the right time, and those things are going to change. There will be an immediate audit of what is going on and changes that will be implemented," Perez said.

What are their opinions on Flock cameras?

What they're saying:

Since late May, there have been four cases of misuse of Flock cameras in Racine County: two in the sheriff's office, and two in the Racine Police Department.

"When used appropriately, they are extremely effective," Madrigal said. "Which is no different than any other piece of technology. It needs to be used effectively, it needs to be used appropriately with guidelines set to how it can and cannot be used."

Perez agrees with Madrigal.

"But we also need to put monitors on it, so it’s not abused," Perez said. "And that will be the responsibility, of course, of the individual officer and the individual supervisor, and I’m going to hold them accountable."

Disciplinary history of the candidates

Dig deeper:

Earlier this year, Madrigal sued to block the public release of three of her past disciplinary records. A judge denied her request and they were released. Madrigal said her goal with doing this was to redact more names from the files because she thought these people needed privacy.

"I think a lot of the information that is in my disciplinary files has been twisted," Madrigal said.

Those records were from incidents in 2006, 2012 and 2025. In 2025, she was suspended 10 days for failing to take action when a deputy was accused of sending sexually explicit photos to a colleague.

The deputy, Preston Kite, was later charged with 45 felonies, which included child sex crimes. Madrigal denies having any relationship with Kite outside of work.

"Do I wish now, looking back, that I would have looked into it further? Absolutely. And that's hindsight," Madrigal said. "And I will never make that mistake again. So since that took place, any rumor that I’ve heard, whether it’s directly from someone’s mouth, I have reported everything to my supervisor because I’m not going to get stuck in that trick bag again."

Perez also has a history in question. He started working at the Racine County Juvenile Detention Center in March 2008, and five months later, he was fired. Perez said the position was temporary, but he was not given a reason for his termination.

During his time in the position, there were eight complaints made against Perez. That included not giving juveniles enough food, agitating the juveniles, having trouble taking directives, not completing all the paperwork he was assigned and refusing staff to help other staff. Perez does not recall any of these things happening.

"I dispute all of them because, first of all, I was never counseled or told about them, there was nothing written up that I can recall – and if there were, where are they?" Perez said.

All other records in Perez's personnel file were destroyed after their eight-year retention policy.

"Eighteen years ago was 18 years ago. It wasn’t the last five years, and it doesn’t show a pattern of misbehavior or bad judgment," Perez said.

Which officials support these candidates?

What they're saying:

Madrigal has many endorsements from top Racine County officials, including the current sheriff, the county executive and district attorney.

"I think that that should tell them that there is already a belief that I am the person that will do the best job," Madrigal said.

Perez does not have any endorsements on his website.

"It’s about having the skills to lead, the skills to be credible, the skills to be a person in the community who people can trust and I think I have the advantage there," Perez said. "I don’t care that I don’t have those political endorsements because the people are going to endorse me."

Public trust in Racine County

Big picture view:

Both Madrigal and Perez believe building trust between the sheriff's office and people in Racine County will be important if they are elected.

"I think that when people talk to, not just the badge, they talk to the person wearing the badge, I think that is how we build trust," Madrigal said. "Talking to people and understanding people and recognizing it’s not an us against them. We’re in this together, and we can only be as strong as we are with our community partners."

"I plan to have open sessions with anyone who wants to come in and talk to me. At least once a week, I’ll dedicate time, make appointments, people will come see me," Perez said. "It’s very important that you have access to the sheriff."

When is the election?

What's next:

Polls across Wisconsin will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Absentee ballots must be delivered to the voter's polling station by 8 p.m. on Tuesday for them to count. Anyone in line at the polling station by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

The winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries advance to the general election. The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

You DecideNewsRacine