Local sheriff’s races don’t typically garner national attention, but Shawano police officer Adam Bieber’s bid to unseat incumbent Shawano County Sheriff Randy Wright became fodder this week for the gossip pages.
Celebrity news web site tmz.com on Tuesday posted a photo of one of Bieber’s campaign signs, which reads, “Elect Bieber Sheriff,” along with a short story headlined, “Bieber running for sheriff in Wisconsin,” with the implication that the story was about singer-songwriter Justin Bieber.
The headline made the rounds on Twitter, with some linking to the tmz.com story and others offering their reactions, such as, “What has the world come to,” “Do you think he will win?” and “Great, so now Justice is Blind and Dumb.”
The tmz story takes a couple of paragraphs to make clear that it’s Adam Bieber, not Justin. It also includes a photo of Adam Bieber, apparently taken from his Facebook page.
“Adam’s creating confusion by not putting his first name on the signs,” the tmz story states. “Maybe it’s a way of attracting young female voters.”
The story also suggests that since Bieber has made drug-sniffing dogs a campaign priority, Justin Bieber might want to stay out of Shawano County.
Bieber — Adam, that is — said Tuesday the attention was “kind of neat, but it’s ridiculous when you think about it.”
The attention is apparently not stopping with tmz.com.
Bieber said he has also been contacted by E! Entertainment, which runs a basic cable channel and an entertainment news site, asking about his campaign platform.
He said he doesn’t know how these organizations are finding him, or why.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Bieber said. “I’m sure there are a lot of famous people named Wright.”