Racine County sheriff race: Madrigal wins Republican primary
RACINE, Wis. - Cary Madrigal won Racine County’s Republican primary for sheriff on Tuesday night, defeating Henry Perez to advance to November’s general election.
Who is Cary Madrigal?
Big picture view:
Madrigal has worked in the Racine County Sheriff's Office for 26 years. She has been sheriff's captain for the past six years. FOX6's Ben Hanson spoke with both Republican candidates before the election – these were Madrigal's responses on some key issues.
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On employee mental health…
Madrigal: "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."
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On Flock cameras…
Madrigal: "When used appropriately, they are extremely effective…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."
On her disciplinary history…
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.
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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."
On public trust…
Madrigal: "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…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."
When is the general election?
What's next:
The winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries advance to the general election. The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
LIVE RESULTS: Wisconsin primary election, August 2026
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The Source: Information in this story is from FOX6 News interviews with the candidates, Racine County open records requests and prior coverage of the race.