Schuman to move forward with write-in campaign

After a positive turnout at a recent meeting to discuss his options, Sheriff’s candidate David Schuman has decided to move forward with a write-in campaign to compete with Dave Kramer in the general election in November.

“As it stands right now, I’m still throwing the feelers out there, and people have been asking me to do this,” Schuman said. “If people are behind this, it’s a viable thing to do. If not, I won’t prolong it enough to make it a joke. We’ll get a sense of how the people feel in the next week or so, and if it’s positive we’ll continue.”

Schuman was defeated in the primary election along with incumbent Greg Sprungl by Dave Kramer, with Kramer receiving 1,080 votes to Schuman’s 681. Without a Democrat on the ticket, Kramer would have run unopposed in the general election.

Despite that result, Schuman believes he can mount a campaign and believes he has the resume to fulfill the job.

“I believe I’m the best candidate for the job,” Schuman said. “I’m not a politician. I think people are tired of politicians. Going the route we’re looking at, it gives people the opportunity to voice their opinion. That’s what the process is all about.”

A write-in campaign can be tricky, with voters having to forgo the usual voting process. Schuman also said there may have been a smear campaign during the lead-up to the primary election that might have worked against him.

“We’re looking at a position of sheriff, which historically is an honorable position,” he said. “Any candidate running for that should not condone that. If you have facts, throw them up. If you don’t have facts, shut up. I’m not perfect, no one is. But having held some of the highest security clearance this job can have, I think you’re not going to find any huge skeletons in my closet. Being a straight-forward kind of person, have I ticked off a few people? Of course I have. Most of them are politicians. I don’t care about that...I don’t need to be offensive to get my point across, I don’t need to be rude. But at a certain point, you have to stand up for what is right.”

Schuman said moving forward, he would continue his campaign like he has from the beginning.

“Basically, my campaign will be the same as it has been from day one,” he said. “Get out there and not put on a facade out there, but let people know the real deal. To let people know that I will be a sheriff who knows every section and knows the problems with the current sheriff’s office and how to change that. It’s a big deal. You’re looking at a huge liability through the sheriff’s office if you have some who doesn’t know what they’re doing. This is just one way we will show that our sheriff’s office will operate in a professional manner, not on the backs of the community we serve or just give lip service. This is also one of the ways we will show that we will operate truly under the fair and equal philosophy.”

Schuman has 36 years of law enforcement experience in a variety of positions. He currently serves as a K-9 Patrol Corporal for the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office.