Roten Drops Out of Sheriff’s Race
MIDLAND, Mich. — Retired Midland Deputy Police Chief Rodney L. Roten is dropping out of the 2020 G.O.P. primary for Midland County Sheriff.
“After many weeks of uncertainty weighing heaving on my heart I have decided to remove myself from the 2020 Midland County Sheriff election,” Mr. Roten wrote in a lengthy post on Facebook.
In early January, Mr. Roten, 51, suffered a pelvic injury after riding a mechanical bull in Grand Rapids. The injury put him in the hospital and on a weeks-long road to recovery.
“As you may know I received a pretty serious pelvis injury at the beginning of the year. An injury that I am still trying to recover from as things have not progressed as hoped. As I have been working on my recovery, some other medical issues have surfaced (nothing life threatening) that need to be addressed in the coming months,” Mr. Roten wrote.
Mr. Roten’s campaign struggled to gain traction in 2019. He told supporters and the media that he was waiting until 2020 to campaign more heavily, in stark contrast to his primary opponents Midland County Deputy Sheriff Myron Greene and Midland Law Enforcement Center administrative assistant Laura Lee.
In fundraising, Mr. Roten performed poorly, only beating out former Midland County Jail Corrections Officer Art Beagle, who has refrained from campaigning or even filing campaign finance reports.
As of the end of 2019, Mr. Roten had just over $1,300 in cash-on-hand. His campaign spent over $1,200 last quarter on campaign literature and liability insurance. In contrast, Mr. Greene had $23,941.73 in cash-on-hand, and Ms. Lee had $14,626.43.
Mr. Roten’s donors included two top law enforcement officials from the area: Mr. Stephenson and Saginaw Valley State University Police Chief Cliff Block. Mr. Stephenson donated $250 and Mr. Block donated $100. Mr. Block is the former Chief of Police for the City of Midland. Mr. Stephenson donated $250 to Ms. Lee’s campaign as well.
With no declared Democratic candidates running for Sheriff, the G.O.P. primary is essentially the race to win. The election is Aug. 4.
Michael Westendorf is the chairman and executive editor of Chemical City Paper. As Executive Editor, he leads the City Paper’s news coverage and editorial team.