NORTHWOOD – There will be a new sheriff in Worth county.
Worth county deputy Dan Fank has easily defeated incumbent sheriff Jay Langenbau, 2,994 votes to 1,028 votes. Langenbau sought his third term as sheriff.
After the election results were reveled, deputy Fank said “Thank you everybody wow I am so blessed as I stated after the primary win I am a person of few words but I won’t let you down.”
Fank was with close friends watching and tabulating results as they were revealed throughout the evening. Friends of deputy Fank alerted NIT that he was pulling away and the race did not appear to be close. Some in Worth county grumbled that Sheriff Langenbau was not visible to the citizenry and didn’t work long enough hours.
Sheriff Langenbau said in a statement after he clearly lost the election “Thank you all for your support and your votes. Unfortunately this will be my last term as Sheriff. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have served all the people of Worth County as your Sheriff for the past 8 years. Now for the next chapter.”
The campaign got off to a rocky start when Fank declared his intention to run for his boss’s seat in January. At about the same time, Sheriff Langenbau demoted deputy Fank.
“Dan Fank was relieved of his Chief Deputy position on Wednesday January 27th and continues to be a Deputy Sheriff for the Worth County Sheriff’s Office. Fank announced his running for Sheriff on Sunday January 31st,” Sheriff Langenbau explained to NIT at the time. Fank disputed the timeline.
“Dan has been a close friend of mine, my family and the Worth County Sheriff’s Office for almost 16 years and I wish him well in his personal and work decisions,” Sheriff Langenbau continued.
Friction in the department continued over the months since then. Just recently, NIT is told that Sheriff Langenbau excluded deputy Fank from meetings and berated others for their support for Fank. Sheriff Langenbau was allegedly furious about Fank signs that were placed in yards of various county employees.
Don’t fall into the pit – People are fed up with corruption. Best of luck and say hi to Donald for me.