With the Clarkston area holding a strong republican standing, many voters decided the races in this year’s election during the August primaries. However, one contested race did turn out some surprising numbers.
In the City of the Village of Clarkston, the race for the three open city council seats resulted in one incumbent being unseated and two new faces joining the board.
Incumbent Derek Werner was unseated by the Nov. 2 election. Winning the council seats are incumbent Scott Meyland with 249 votes, and new comers Kristy Ottman with 282 and Steve Wylie with 259. Werner received 224 votes while candidate Steve Coventry received 204.
City Manager Art Pappas said 583 city residents voted of the 879 registered.
‘We were busy,? he stated. ‘It ran very smoothly, but there was a steady stream of people.?
Springfield Township
In Springfield Township, voters approved renewing the 0.7289 mill, 10-year police levy by an overwhelming margin of 4,369-2,745.
The only contested race on the ballot was for township treasurer; however, the choice was a bit misleading. Theresa LaPorte filed nominating petitions for the office with ‘no party affiliation,? but decided not to run. However, she did not meet the deadline for withdrawing and still appeared on the ballot. Jamie Dubre won the position with 4,720. LaPorte received 1,491.
Other elected positions in the township were uncontested: Supervisor Collin Walls received 5,811 votes; Clerk Nancy Strole received 5,905 votes; and the four trustees Dennise Vallad 4,985, Dave Hopper 5,053, Marc Cooper 5,127 and Roger Lamont 4,937.
A total of 7,745 residents voted of the 10,114 registered, a 76.58 percent turnout.
Independence Township
According to the Oakland County election results website, Independence Township saw no surprises for the regular election.
Incoming township supervisor Dave Wagner received 13,873 votes, incoming clerk Shelagh VanderVeen received 13,825 and current treasurer Jim Wenger received 13,803.
Four trustees are taking seats on the board: Dan Kelly with 12,372 votes, Larry Rosso with 11,936, Dan Travis with 11,734 and Charles Dunn with 12,078. A total of 19,275 residents voted of the 25,050 registered.
52-2 District Judge
The hotly contested 52-2 District Judge race ended with Kelley Kostin as the decisive winner. Kostin received 26,815 votes to Larence Kozma’s 19,352.
County Commissioner – 4th District
Incumbent Thomas Middleton easily carried the county commission seat with 16,384 votes. Challenger Charles Inman received 7,988.
State Representative – 44th District
Finally, incumbent John Stakoe will remain the 44th District State Representative. Stakoe received 33,592 votes. Candidates Bill Scrase and Ron Monroe received 14,494 and 1,400 votes respectively.