Lesli Boese's victory clears way for her to be next Waukesha County District Attorney

Waukesha County voters cleared the way for Leslie Boese to be its next district attorney following her victory in the Aug. 13 partisan primary .

Boese will now be the lone candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election, as Boese and fellow Republican Mike Thurston were the only ones vying for the position. No Democrats opted to run to succeed longtime Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper, who will finish her term at the end of 2024.

Boese received 51.9% of the votes, or 32,517, in the primary, according to the Waukesha County Clerk's Office . Thurston received 47.9%, or 30,017.

Both candidates are longtime career prosecutors who serve as deputy DAs within the county.

Opper presided over high-profile cases in the role for 33 years, including the trial after Darrell Brooks drove an SUV through the Waukesha Christmas Parade in 2021, killing six and injuring more than 60. Brooks received multiple life sentences in the case.

Opper announced her decision to not run for reelection in March of 2022. Asked about her reaction to the race, she did not offer any comment.

Boese, a lifelong county resident, has been with the county's District Attorney's Office for 29 years, leading the drug unit for the past eight years. She could not be reached for comment on Tuesday evening.

Her opponent, Thurston, has been with the office for nine years and currently leads the sensitive crimes unit, which prosecutes domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault cases. He previously worked as a prosecutor in Milwaukee County as well as Rockford, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Waukesha County's DA race was one of four competitive district attorney races out of 71 in the state this year, according to the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association.

Boese's campaign centered crime from Milwaukee. A Journal Sentinel Analysis dug deeper.

Both Thurston and Boese had similar campaign messaging about the need to fight rising crime in Waukesha County caused by people from Milwaukee .

At a June 19 debate held by the Republican Party of Waukesha County, the two candidates tried to outdo one another over who would be tougher “on crime from Milwaukee,” saying it was “the biggest concern facing Waukesha County.”

A Journal Sentinel analysis of five years of Waukesha County court data found more Waukesha County residents were charged with felony and misdemeanor cases than Milwaukee County residents.

Three-quarters of the court cases in Waukesha County involving Milwaukee County residents were for lower-level traffic and misdemeanor offenses.

When presented with the data, both candidates said it was difficult to comment on broad statistics or data because each case is different and both acknowledged that one particular felony case continues to weigh heavily on their minds.

Both ultimately stood by their statements that crime from Milwaukee is the biggest issue facing Waukesha County.

Presented with the data, Boese said, "Overall, it's hard to generalize about this stuff without looking at the individual cases within the data."

Thurston said, "You're talking about huge, broad, sweeping statistics, and I can't speak to that level. I can only really sort of speak generally on a case-by-case basis, or to observations, anecdotally."

The two candidates had collected endorsements from officials with similar rhetoric on crime from Milwaukee.

Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker backed Boese, saying she will be "tough on crime." Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke , a conservative who spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention , endorsed Thurston. In a message to voters, Clarke said Thurston would aggressively prosecute “predators from Milwaukee (who) enter into Waukesha County to victimize your residents and businesses."

Here's what Boese said during her campaign about how she'd handle the job of district attorney

Prior to the partisan primary, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interviewed Boese, along with Thurston, over the phone to learn more about how they planned to tackle the job. Their responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.

Boese said she initially had no interest in running but decided to enter the race after another declared candidate, Assistant District Attorney Abbey Nickolie, bowed out, and police officers asked her to run with the county police chiefs’ support.

In particular, Boese hopes to be tougher on smaller crimes, lower level traffic and misdemeanors. While she agreed they are objectively lower level than felonies, Boese argues that leaving those smaller crimes unprosecuted could embolden a person who “got away with it” to commit more serious crimes.

"We've got to charge those felonies. That impacts people, but misdemeanors also do," Boese said. "Most felons don't start out with a felony. They start out with littler stuff, and it builds. I think that there needs to be consequences."

Two decades of court data in Waukesha County show that some people originally charged with a lesser offense are later charged with more serious crimes.

A Journal Sentinel analysis of the this data found that around 10% of individuals charged with misdemeanor or traffic violations, around 6,000 people, were later charged with felonies.

Crime from Milwaukee aside, Boese said the another major issue facing the county is understaffing within the District Attorney's Office. By the end of 2024, the office will be left with 20 prosecutors, she said.

"We have about 411,000 people in Waukesha County, which means that we should have 41 prosecutors (based on a national goal from professional groups of having one prosecutor per 10,000 people in a county)," Boese said.

"I think the push now is to get staffing levels increased," she added. "The number of prosecutors prosecuting crimes in Waukesha County is going to be less than it was when I started 29 years ago."

Boese said she made a commitment to local police chiefs to get staffing levels up "so that we can hold people accountable for the small stuff. If we can hold people accountable for the small stuff, maybe they never engage in more serious criminal behavior."

Here's what Waukesha County voters in New Berlin said at the polls about the race

Outside of New Berlin's City Hall, at 3805 S. Casper Drive, a steady stream of voters trickled in and out of the polling site after working hours on Tuesday.

New Berlin resident Jim Lutzen said he wasn't quite sure about who to vote for. Typically, he votes Republican but had trouble distinguishing which candidate would be tougher on crime.

"It's a gamble," Lutzen said. "We need someone who enforces the law."

Many voters who felt similarly relied on endorsements in determining their vote.

Another New Berlin resident, Ellie Mcrae-Mangwiza, said she voted for Boese due to her strong ties with law enforcement groups. Mcrae-Mangwiza has a sister whose husband is a police officer in the county, which she said played a role in her decision.

Nick and Janet Horvat both typically vote for Republicans but between the two candidates both running on the Republican ticket, they voted for Boese.

"We have fellow friends who are police officers, so we conferred with them about what is better for the county. That's why I voted for Lesli," Nick Horvat said.

They also valued her endorsement from former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who they said they aligned with.

Lu Ziemer, 87, has lived in New Berlin her whole life and cast her vote for Boese based on good things she heard from friends.

"I didn't know much about her and was actually going to vote for the gentleman (Thurston), but from word of mouth, she seemed like the best candidate," Ziemer said.

Bob Zilke said he and his wife discussed who they'd vote for together. He wouldn't say who they ended up choosing but he did say he'll be watching to see how the winner handles the job.

"They can say anything today. But, once they're in office, I'm gonna have to look back myself and find out how they did," Zilke said. "It's not so much what you say now, it's the fruits of what you do."

Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13 .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lesli Boese's victory clears way for her to be next Waukesha County District Attorney