By Gari Voss
“Absentee” ballots have been requested and are being returned. On October 26, 2024, Early Voting at polling places begins and goes through Sunday, November 3, 2024. The last in-person voting day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
The most important take away for this election is whether or not voters take time to become acquainted with the candidates. It takes extra effort to look at the voting record of an incumbent or to ask questions of a new candidate beyond what party they represent. Television and radio blurbs do not often carry the real positions of a candidate. Voters must do some fact finding to determine the truth behind the words.
Most important is to vote. There are many ways to vote. It is not too late to register to vote. To find the precinct clerks, call the Allegan County clerk office at (269) 673-0450 for assistance.
To review a copy of a precinct’s ballot, go to https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/publicballot/index and use the dropdowns to locate the ballot for a single precinct.
To contact a delegate to ask questions of their stance on important issues, go to https://www.allegancounty.org/departments/county-clerk, choose “elections” then “candidate list”. Candidates file their email addresses and phone numbers.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
A quick review of the candidates vying for precinct positions finds that many candidates have no opponents. Those positions were determined during the primary election when Republicans ran against other Republicans but had no opponent in other parties
The following identifies those precincts that do require decisions made by voters.
CITIES / VILLAGES
City of Allegan Council voters will choose four councilmembers for the 4 open seats to serve a 4-year term.
Patrick Westover
Carl Canales
Peter Hanse
Melanie Hooker
Will Walker
City of Douglas Council voters will choose from six candidates to fill four 2-year council terms.
Greg Freeman
Neal Seabert
Randy Walker
Jeff West
John O’Malley
Dana White
Otsego City Commission voters will choose two candidates to fill the 4-year terms. The lowest vote getter will fill a 2-year term.
Jason M Smith
Stacey L Withee
Wayne Rayburn
Plainwell City Council voters will choose 2 candidates to fill 4-year terms.
Todd Overhuel
Cathy Green
Lori K Steele
Todd Smits
Saugatuck City Council needs voters to choose 4 candidates to fill 2-year council seats.
Joe Leonatti
Scott Dean
Gregory Muncey
Lauren Stanton
Chris Peterson
Helen Baldwin
Sherry Tedaldi
Wayland City Council needs voters to choose three council candidates to fill 2-year terms.
Tracy M Bivins
Joe Kramer
Eric D Whittredge
Norman L Taylor
Abe Garcia
Martin Village voters need to choose 2 trustees who will serve 4-year terms.
Joshua Visser
Ricky J Martin
Ryan Bouwman
TOWNSHIPS
Allegan Township will choose 2 trustees for 4-year terms.
Independent Jane A. Waanders
Republican Jim Connell
Republican Heather D. Knight
Casco Township has two races that have opponents. One treasurer and 2 trustees must be elected for 4-year terms.
Treasurer
Republican Kenny Clevenger
Democrat K. Kelly Hecker
Trustee
Republican Dan Fleming
Republican Mary V Campbell
Democrat Judy B Pollack
Cheshire Township will select 2 trustees for 4-year terms.
Independent Ryan Looman
Independent Robin L Harps
Republican Raymond Moored
Democrat Ken Horton
Laketown Township voters will select one treasurer for a 4-year term.
Republican Jim Johnson
Independent Stacey Lefevre
Lee Township will select 1 supervisor and 2 trustees for 4-year terms.
Supervisor
Democrat Scott D Owen
Republican Richard Rawson
Trustees (2)
Republican Ben Lewis
Democrat Ann Hatfield
Democrat Lisa Galdikas
Salem Township has competition for the Library Board with seven candidates vying for six seats.
Lydia Bouman
Amber Hoppe
Connie Immink
Joy L Jones
Charity Walters
Rebecca Walters
Ashley VanZoeren
Trowbridge Township will require voters to choose 2 trustees for 4-year terms.
Independent Mark A Haveman
Republican Tony R. Emmons Jr.
Republican Lori Querback
COUNTY ELECTIONS
The Allegan County Elected Officials were decided in the August Primary Election. Voters can just support the previous decisions for County Commissioners, County Clerk, County Treasurer, Drain Commissioner, County Surveyor, Sheriff, or Prosecuting Attorney.
STATE OFFICIALS
Each of the Michigan Congregational Districts has choices. The best way to determine the correct district for a precinct is to review the sample ballots at https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/publicballot/index. Each district will choose just one representative.
State Of Michigan House of Representatives
38th District
Democrat Joey Andrews
Republican Kevin Whiteford
39th District
Democrat Kerry Tapper
Republican Pauline Wendzel
42nd District
Democrat Austin Marsman
Republican Matt Hall
43rd District
Democrat Danene Shumaker
Republican Rachelle Smit
79th District
Democrat Jason Rubin
Republican Angela Rigas
86th District
Democrat Abby Klomparens
Republican Nancy DeBoer
FEDERAL POSITIONS
The November 5th election will determine a U.S. senator, representative to Congress, and president. There has be plenty of television, radio and social media advertisements for these positions. For those voting strictly by party lines, there is little factfinding time taken. For those who do not vote by party lines, there are ways to check information being presented.
In each category, there will be only one person chosen.
U.S. Senate
Democrat Elissa Slotkin
Republican Mike Rogers
Libertarian Joseph Solis-Mullen
US Taxpayers Dave Stein
Green Douglas P. Marsh
NLP Doug Dern
Representative in Congress
Democrat Jessica Swartz
Republican Bill Huizenga
Ustaxpayer Curtis Clark
President
Democrat Kamala D. Harris & Tim Walz
Republican Donald J. Trump & JD Vance
Libertarian Chase Oliver & Mike ter Maat
US Taxpayers Randall Terry & Stephen E. Broden
Green Jill Stein & Rudolph Ware
NLP Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Nicole Shanahan
NPA Joseph Kishore & Jerry White
NPA Cornel West & Melina Abdullah
JUSTICES
Most of the positions for justice in the state and county are uncontested. There are two Michigan Supreme Court positions and the new Allegan County 48th Circuit Court position that require voter approval.
Justice of the Supreme Court 8-year term
Andrew Fink
Kimberly Ann Thomas
Justice of the Supreme Court Partial term
Kyra Harris Bolden
Patrick William O’Grady
Judge of 48th Circuit Court
Emily Jipp
Elizabeth Peterson
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Some school districts have enough candidates to serve on the Board of Education. The Martin School District and Glenn School District are missing candidates. The following are districts where there is competition for the open Board of Education seats.
Allegan School Board
Vote for 2
Nathon Kelley
Katherine Lake
Brad Van Melle
Hamilton School Board
Vote for 2
Loren Joostberns
Candice Dykstra
Janell Simmons
Hopkins School Board
Vote for 2
Karen Ryan
Ian A Gibson
Steven Johnson
Otsego School Board
Vote for 1
Micheal W Dafoe
Jessica Hazelhoff
Plainwell School Board
Vote for 3
Michael Hopson
Derek Dunn
Anthony McNeel
Jill Dunham
Wayland School Board
Vote for 4
Becky Hohnke
Daniel Cassini
Stephanie Tromp
Theresa Dobry
Erin Stepek
Caledonia School Board
Vote for 2
Shawn Collins
Jessica Kohn
Earlina Velting
Marcy White
Gobles School Board
Vote for 4
Ben Baxter
Justin Burza
Joe DeYoung
Jordan Gettys
Maggie Platt
Kevin J Ray
Marc A VanHeukelum
Hudsonville School Board
Vote for 2
Andrew DeWitt
Joy Hemmes
Dana O’Dell
Jaime Fleming
South Haven School Board
Vote for 3
Malissa Acosta
Leta Faye Covington
S. Grassflower
Douglas Ransom
Justin Ingraham
Thornapple-Kellogg School Board
Vote for 2
Krissy Hooson
Keara Hilton
Katie Stanton
