Clare County Voters Voice Choices, Clerk Breaks Hayes Tie Vote

By DIANNE ALWARD-BIERY

Cleaver Senior Staff Writer

HARRISON – After much campaigning and commitment to cause, the August Primary came to a close with multiple in-county races finishing on miniscule margins. There was no surprise that with so many of the local races posting contenders on only one side of the ballot, the winning November winners actually would be chosen in August.

Something unusual did happen at this election, however, as one race ended in a tie vote. That was in the race for Hayes Township Trustee where three candidates vied for the two positions. Winning the most votes was Rob McKay with 324, and the tied candidates, JJ Martin and incumbent Robert Buckley, each received 252.

The resolution for this situation fell legally to Clare County Clerk Lori Martin, who chose to do so via a drawing held the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 12 at the Clare County Building. After a brief explanation of the process, the two candidates were given the option to choose which of them would reach into a lidded container and pull out a slip of paper that declared either “nominated” or “not nominated.” JJ Martin graciously gestured that Buckley could draw the first slip, and the slip Buckley drew declared him to be “nominated.” Thus, the two names advancing to the November ballot (unchallenged) will be McKay and Buckley.

Also in Hayes, the position of township supervisor was claimed by Brendan Powell (361 votes) over current trustee Ernie Teall (211 votes).

A real Republican side of the ballot nail-biter was the race for Summerfield Trustee with Dean Smith receiving 40 votes, Scott Losey 39, and Mike Romatz 38. Essentially, with the shift of one vote, that race could have ended in a three-way tie.

Yet another close run was for Hamilton Township Supervisor, with Gerald Tom Vaughn receiving 115 votes and Keith Rolph 112. Vaughn will face Democratic candidate Randy Stanifer on the November ballot.

The Clare County Commissioners race yielded one very close tally between District 7 Commissioner Gabe Ambrozaitis who received 202 votes to challenger Larry Szyska’s 193. An upset for the District 3 seat saw challenger Jacob Gross defeating long-serving incumbent Samantha Pitchford on a 206-160 vote. Two other commissioners held their ground: Dale Majeski over Anthony Argenta 357-173; and Jack Kleinhardt over Mick Haley 355-194. Commissioners Rickie Fancon, George Gilmore, Jeff Haskell, Marlene Housler and David Hoefling ran unopposed. Write-ins were not silent in the commissioner races, with a total of 153 Democratic and 13 Republican write-in votes cast across all nine districts.

The electorate did seem to swing in unison when it came to taxes. All in-county millage/tax levy proposals passed with the exception of the Redding Township General Operating Millage proposal which was defeated 53-21.

 Not all November candidates are listed here, as that information can be offered most accurately closer to November. And, of course, every election is a horse race, so the seemingly set field could be altered by withdrawals or the additions of heretofore unannounced independent candidates. Ergo, the electorate will have to wait briefly to see just who is included on the final General Election ballot.

One fervent hope is that November voter turnout will be vastly improved over the Aug. 6 Primary, which yielded a mere 25.03% turnout. That means only 6,701 of the county’s 26,775 registered voters cast ballots.