Michigan’s constitutional sheriff defeats Republican challengers in landslide

BARRY COUNTY, MI -- The next sheriff of Barry County will likely be current Sheriff Dar Leaf, unofficial vote totals show following the Tuesday, Aug. 6, election.

Leaf, 59, faced three Republican challengers for office: Joel Ibbotson, 36, Mark Noteboom, 42, and Sgt. Richelle Spencer. No Democrats filed to run, meaning Tuesday’s winner is likely to be the next sheriff, barring the unlikely event of a successful write-in campaign.

Leaf received 8,492 votes, about 58% of the total. Spencer received 4,933 votes (34%), Noteboom had 1,053 votes (7%) and Joel Ibbotson had 183 votes (1%), unofficial totals from Barry County show.

Leaf, a constitutional sheriff, has made national headlines for his push to investigate the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. He has worked to find look for evidence that voter fraud led to the outcome of the election, an unsubstantiated claim made by Donald Trump after Trump lost the race.

Barry County is a rural county, located between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Lansing.

Leaf has become a divisive figure over the past five years, a small-town sheriff who acquired a national platform for bucking pandemic lockdown mandates, for his connection to men accused (and acquitted) of kidnapping Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and, finally, for the endless voter fraud investigation.

Leaf did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment Wednesday morning.

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