Moesch drops out of primary for Assembly

Sarnwick hoping to win nomination in bid against Tauchen
By: 
Tim Ryan
Reporter

Simon Moesch has announced he is dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin’s 6th District Assembly seat.

Moesch, a Shawano resident and 22-year-old graduate of Northern Michigan University-Marquette, was vying for the nomination against Richard Sarnwick, a Shawano doctor hoping to make his second run against Rep. Gary Tauchen in November after being defeated two years ago.

Both names will still be on the ballot in the Aug. 11 primary.

Moesch explained his withdrawal in a Facebook post, saying he had been given an opportunity to go back to school and further his education.

“This was not something that I had foreseen before this week,” Moesch wrote. “With that being said, I am going back to school to earn my Master’s of Public Administration with a concentration in state and local government.”

Moesch said it was a very hard decision, but it was the best one for himself and the community.

“By doing this, I will be even more educated and have more knowledge of the field that I hope to one day work in,” he said. “I wish I could have let everyone know of this sooner, but I just found out about this.”

Moesch urged his supporters not to vote for him in the primary.

“If I win the primary, I have no way of giving up the Democratic seat in the general election,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Moesch could decline the nomination if he won, but that doesn’t mean Sarnwick would become the Democratic nominee.

Instead, there would be a vacancy and no name would appear on the Democratic ballot for that office.

Some ballots have already been mailed to absentee voters who have requested them.

In-person absentee voting was already underway in some communities and was expected to start in the city of Shawano on July 27.

The Republican Wisconsin Legislature recently won a court ruling seeking to limit early voting to two weeks before the election, but the mandate in that ruling has not yet gone into effect, according to the state elections commission.

There are no other contested races on the Aug. 11 primary ballot in Shawano County, but County Clerk Pam Schmidt said the primary would have been held regardless of whether there were any contested races.

Sarnwick said he had been happy to see Moesch get into the race.

“I really like the fact that the race attracted younger people,” he said. “We’ve had some problems getting younger people involved in politics. I was really happy that he was willing to run.”

Sarnwick said Moesch’s involvement had also attracted other younger people.

“He had a lot of younger friends who, because he was involved, they seemed to be involved in the process, too,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get younger people to the polls.”

Sarnwick said not much separated the two candidates in terms of politics.

“I think politically his views and my views were pretty similar,” he said.

tryan@newmedia-wi.com