Determining who will vie for a Circuit Court judicial seat and who will be the Republican running for a county Board of Commissioners seat representing northern Macomb County in the November general election highlight some of the locally contested races in the Aug. 4 primary in Macomb County.
With 71% of precincts reporting, James Spagnuolo of Clinton Township and Genevieve Taylor of St. Clair Shores were leading for the one non-incumbent judicial seat, followed by Jeremy Fisher of Sterling Heights and Mariell Lehman of Macomb Township.
Spagnuolo, a trial lawyer and Marine veteran, garnered 37% of the vote, followed by Taylor, a district court magistrate and Lakeview Public Schools trustee, who had 26%, according to unofficial results on the county election department’s website. Fisher, who had nearly 20% of the vote, is an assistant county prosecutor, and Lehman, with 15% of the vote, is a trial attorney who represented James Crumbley, the father of Ethan Crumbley, who killed four classmates in the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting. James Crumbley, along with his wife, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the case.
The top two vote-getters will square off in the November general election for the six-year judicial seat.
County Commissioner Ken Goike of Ray Township beat challenger Dan Bartolotta of Washington Township in the GOP primary for the District 1 county commission seat, a partial term ending Dec. 31, 2028, according to unofficial results with all precincts reporting. Goike won nearly 71% of the vote. Michael LaBuhn of Washington Township ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face Goike in the fall.
Goike, a former state representative, was appointed in January 2025 to represent the district, which covers the northern part of the county, and fill a vacancy by longtime former board Chairman Don Brown, who resigned from the county board at the end of 2024 to become a deputy commissioner for the county’s public works office.
This is the year for the county executive election, but neither longtime Executive Mark Hackel, a Democrat from Macomb Township, nor Republican Richard Moore of Clinton Township had contested primaries. The two will face off in the November general election for the four-year term.
A new millage not to exceed 1 mill for 10 years for parks and recreation and senior services failed in Chesterfield Township, going down in a 63% to 37% vote, with all precincts reporting. The millage would have started in December and ended in December 2035 and would have been for operations, programming, equipment, facilities, personnel and maintenance of parks and recreation and senior services. It would have raised about $2.5 million in the first year, according to the proposal.
Unofficial results showed that voters overwhelmingly supported library millage renewals on ballots in Eastpointe and Utica, with 100% of precincts reporting in both cities.
Eastpointe voters supported a library millage renewal in an amount not to exceed 1 mill for five years, beginning with the 2027 levy, to operate and maintain the library. If levied in its entirety, the millage would raise about $742,458 in the first year, according to the proposal.
Utica voters approved a library operating millage renewal proposal, which would not exceed 0.3894 mills for 10 years, from 2027 through 2036, raising nearly $104,000 in the first year.
Harrison Township voters approved a police, fire and general operations millage renewal for fiscal years 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, with 100% of precincts reporting. The proposal is a renewal at 9.0831 mills, raising nearly $12 million in the first year. The proposal said mills allocated for fire would help pay for vehicles, apparatus, equipment, housing, personnel and emergency medical and ambulance services.
A renewal of a millage for police protection passed in Washington Township, excluding the village of Romeo, with all precincts reporting. The proposal called for taxes to be increased by 2 mills for each $1 of the taxable real and personal property, as finally equalized, for four years, from 2026 through 2029.
Washington Township voters also supported an ambulance and advanced life support services renewal of special assessment for four years, beginning this year, with the sum not to exceed 2 mills, according to unofficial results. Each of the township millage proposals will bring in just over $4.3 million in the first year, according to the ballot language.
Unofficial results indicated that school millage proposals in Clintondale Community Schools and L’Anse Creuse Public Schools were failing narrowly, but not all precincts had reported.
With 100% of precincts reporting, a New Haven Community Schools operating millage renewal proposal passed with 60% of the vote. The proposal is for 10 years, from 2027 through 2036, according to the ballot language.
This story will be updated.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb voters OK some proposals, one for parks, seniors fails
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
