Livingston County voters heading to the polls on Tuesday will have several contested primary races and millage requests to decide on.
The most talked-about local primary challenge is for the GOP nomination to the 22nd State Senate district in which incumbent Sen. Lana Theis is being challenged by ultra-right wing candidate Mike Detmer.
The winner will face Brighton District Library Board Vice President Jordan Genso in November, who is running uncontested in the Democratic primary.
Detmer, a white nationalist sympathizer who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, has parroted the former President’s falsehoods of massive fraud in the 2020 election despite hundreds of local and state audits that have consistently verified the results. Theis, who was one of 11 state lawmakers who signed a draft letter just prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack seeking to delay certification of the 2020 election, later opened herself up for criticism by Trump and his supporters when she signed onto a Senate Government Oversight Committee report that determined that there was no widespread election fraud.
Another contested primary race is in the newly-drawn 48th State House district, where Hamburg Township Treasurer Jason Negri and Jason Woolford of Howell, are vying for the GOP nomination. The winner in that contest will face Ann Arbor Democrat Jennifer Conlin, who is also running uncontested in her primary.
In Livingston County, the 48th District includes Hamburg and Genoa townships and a portion of Putnam Township. It also includes the northern tier of Washtenaw County dipping down into Ann Arbor and a northeast section of Jackson County.
At the County Commission level, six of the nine GOP contests are contested, with the race for 5th District garnering the most attention. Incumbent Commissioner Jay Drick is being challenged there by former Howell Mayor Nick Proctor.
Proctor has criticized Drick’s “ideological litmus tests” on issues resulting in what he described as “a needless expenditure of our tax dollars for an external search for a new Health Director” while also voting not to accept $1.5 million in state COVID funding.
In response, Drick has tried to label Proctor as a “tax-raiser” for his actions while on Howell City Council including support for a Headlee Override. Proctor has called those attacks “misleading rhetoric” in an attempt to “score cheap and dishonest political points.”
The winner of the race will face Marion Township Democrat Kasey Helton in November. Helton has encouraged her supporters to vote for Proctor in the primary, saying that while they disagree on many issues, they do agree on a civil dialogue between candidates, something she does not believe Drick will do.
Other contested commission races include the 2nd District where incumbent Carol Sue Reader is fending off a challenge from former Commissioner Dave Domas; the 3rd District in which Livingston Republican Party Chair Meghan Reckling is competing against Iosco Township Clerk Dan Delmerico and Frank Sample; the 6th District where Dan Schifko and Roger Deaton are competing for the nomination; the 8th District in which Tabitha Dolan, Nick Fiani and Jim Mortensen are in the running; and the 9th District where current Commissioners Brenda Plank and Jay Gross are facing off.
There are also various road millages on the ballot in Cohoctah, Handy, Howell and Oceola townships, an operating millage renewal for Fowlerville Community Schools, library millages in Hamburg and Hartland and millage proposals for the Howell Area Fire Authority and Putnam Township as well as a bond proposal for the construction of a new fire headquarters building and purchase of a new aerial ladder truck in Green Oak Township.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots will also be accepted by municipal clerks through 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Details can be found at the Michigan Voter Information Center. That link is below;
