Waukesha County Deputy DA Mike Thurston resigns just days after primary election loss

Waukesha County Deputy District Attorney Mike Thurston submitted his resignation on Aug. 16, three days after losing a heated race for the county's top prosecutor job.

Voters supported Leslie Boese, also a deputy DA in Waukesha and Thurston's coworker, to be the Republican nominee for district attorney during the Aug. 13 partisan primary . Boese earned 52% of the vote to Thurston's 48%.

Boese will be the lone candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election, as Boese and Thurston, both Republicans, were the only ones vying for the position.

In his resignation letter, Thurston said, "With new leadership comes a new vision for the Office. That vision must be implemented now. I respect that fact and don’t want to hinder it in any way."

Thurston has been with the office for nine years, most recently leading 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.

"Its been an honor to serve the residents of Waukesha County these past nine years," Thurston wrote. "We have fought so hard for our victims and our law enforcement partners, and have achieved many meaningful results."

Thurston's last day in the office will be Tuesday, Aug. 27.

"Thanks for the opportunity. I will always wish the best for this Office," he wrote.

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.

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.

Both Thurston and Boese's campaigns centered on 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.

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

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha County Deputy DA Mike Thurston resigns just days after primary election loss