By Jim Bloch
Blue Water Area residents cast their ballots on several state, county and local races and proposals in the Aug. 4 primary.
St. Clair County
Residents in St. Clair County were asked to renew three millages. All three passed.
The St. Clair County Senior Citizens millage passed by a huge margin, 29,428 to 10,859, or 73.05 percent of the vote to 26,95 percent. The measure will raise money for senior services in the county. The levy will be .8 mills or 80 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, about half the retail value of a home. The renewal request is for four years, through 2029. The tax will raise $6,913,513 in its first year.
Voters approved the St. Clair County Ambulance Services millage by a landslide, 30,651 to 9,689, or 76 percent of the vote to 24 percent. Residents will pay .5 mills for four years or 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value on their real property. The measure will raise $4,330,595 in its first year.
Voters were less enthusiastic about St. Clair County Community College’s request to renew the institution’s .5 mill levy but still passed the measure. The vote was 19,494, or 54 percent, to 16,485, or 46 percent. The renewal will run four years, raising about $3.7 million in its first year.
Michigan – U.S. Senate
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, narrowly beat moderate Haley Stevens to win the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. In November. El-Sayed will try to win the seat vacated by the retiring Democratic Gary Peters and will face Republican Mike Rogers, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The Associated Press called the race with 95 percent of the vote counted.
“In a contentious race that divided the party, Dr. El-Sayed overcame $60 million in outside money supporting Ms. Stevens, including about $32 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a hard-line pro-Israel group whose involvement became a source of frequent conflict in the contest,” reported the New York Times.
El-Sayed led a progressive upsurge in the Mitten State which included victories by Will Lawrence in the 7th Congressional District, near Lansing, and Donavan McKinney who
beat Rep. Shri Thanedar in Detroit. Democratic socialist Yousef Rabin dislodged Mayor Christopher Taylor in Ann Arbor.
Other Michigan races
Voters gave Jocelyn Benson the nod over Christopher Robert Swanson in a landslide, to head the Democratic ticket for Michigan governor. With 99 percent of votes counted, Benson attracted 83 percent of ballots cast, 1,243,100 to Swanson’s 251,223.
Benson will square off against John James in November. James attracted 465,407 votes in the Republican primary, or 50 percent. He outpointed Perry Johnson, with 327,432 votes, Mike Cox with 120,766 and Ari Nesbitt with 16,274.
In St. Clair County, Benson attracted 84 percent of the vote; James won 46 percent of the vote.
Four candidates competed for the Republican nod to run for State Senator in the 25th District: Andrew Beeler, with 10,929 votes, beat Gary R. Eisen, with 4,530 votes, John W. Mahaney, with 610 votes, and Randy Schulz, with 2,304 votes; Beeler attracted 59 percent of the votes.
In the Democratic primary for the 65th District race for State Legislature, James O’Brien beat James Andonoff, 1315-850.
In the race for the Republican entrant in the State Senate in the 12th District, John Goldwater attracted 1,270 votes, 40 percent, to win; Shelley Wright finished second with 770 votes; Eileen Tesch finished third with 720 votes; Patrick Shawn Bianger finished last with 106.
Tesch, in what appears to be a conflict of interest, conducted several video interviews of conservative candidates – including Eisen and Schultz — on her Blue Water Healthy Living show called “Living Exponentially.” Tesch also ran as a Republican for Precinct 1 delegate from Algonac.
Local
In Marysville, voters renewed the operating millage for Marysville Public Schools by a solid margin, 2,413 to 1,487, or about 62 percent in favor to 38 percent opposed. The renewal of the 18 mill 10-year levy will result in property owners paying $18 per $1,000 of taxable value, about half of the property’s market value. It will raise about $4.3 million in its first year.
In St. Clair, residents overwhelmingly approved the renewal of the 2.4902 mill, 10-year tax that supports paving streets in the city. The vote was 1,103 to 504, or 68.64 percent to 31.36 percent. The tax will capture about $6.8 million in its first year.
In Algonac, voters narrowly passed the request to renew the 1.8152 sinking fund millage for Algonac Public Schools. The vote was 2,329 to 2,161, or 51.87 percent to 48.13 percent. The 10-year renewal will pay for building construction and repair, security improvements and technology purchases and upgrades. It will raise nearly $2 million in its first year.
In the Republican race for the partial term for the District 5 seat on the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners, Paul Zeller attracted 2,000 votes to beat Kelly Tucker with 1,291. Zeller will face Dorothy Yope, who ran unopposed in Democratic primary.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
