By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
It should be an interesting election year if last week’s candidate filings are any indication. A crowded field of 10 Republicans are vying for the chance to run against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Meanwhile, other state, county and local races are shaping up for the August and November elections.
The race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination will feature 10 candidates: Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown, James Craig, Tudor Dixon, Perry Johnson, Ryan Kelley, Michael Markey, Ralph Rebandt, Kevin Rinke and Garrett Soldano. Brown is from Stevensville and is a Michigan State Police captain.
In Southwest Michigan, redistricting has brought about major changes for federal and state elections and was a major reason why longtime Congressman Fred Upton decided to retire. Berrien County is now home to two Congressional districts with the northern half part of the fourth Congressional district and the southern half part of the fifth.
Upton is currently representing the sixth congressional district which covered all of Southwest Michigan including Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties as well as Kalamazoo County.
The new fourth Congressional district covers the north half of Berrien County as well as all or parts of Van Buren, Allegan, Kalamazoo, Calhoun and Ottawa counties. The southern half of Berrien County along with Cass County will be in the fifth Congressional district that runs east to Lake Erie along the state’s southern border.
Incumbent Republican Congressmen Bill Huizenga and Tim Walberg represent what are now the fourth and fifth Congressional districts respectively. If Upton had decided to run for re-election, he would have had to challenge Huizenga for that seat.
Huizenga will face Democrat Joseph Alfonso in November for the fourth district seat. Both are residents of Holland. In the fifth district, Walberg will face two challengers in the August Republican primary, Elizabeth Ferszt of Jackson and Sherry O’Donnell of Stevensville. The winner will face Democrat Bart Goldberg of New Buffalo.
State senate and house seats will also look different this year. Redistricting split Berrien County in half with the new state senate districts and in the state house races, a new district was created of lakeside communities from Berrien County north to Saugatuck.
The current 21st state senate district which LaSata represents covers Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph Counties along the state line.
The new 20th state senate district covers the northern half of Berrien County, most of Van Buren County and parts of Allegan and Kent Counties. The new 17th state senate district covers the southern half of Berrien County, all of Cass, St. Joseph and Branch Counties and parts of Calhoun, Jackson and Hillsdale Counties.
State Sen. Kim LaSata will be moving to Niles to run in the 17th state senate district. She will face Jonathan Lindsey of Bronson in the Republican primary in August with the winner facing Democrat Scott Starr of Coldwater in November.
The new 20th state senate district will feature incumbent Republican Aric Nesbitt of Lawton facing off with challengers Kaleb Hudson of Grand Rapids and Austin Kreutz of Allegan in the Republican primary in August with the winner facing Democrat Kim Jorgensen Gane of Benton Harbor in the fall.
Berrien County will be home to three rather than two state house districts with the creation of a new lakeshore district that runs from New Buffalo to Saugatuck. That district will be the 38th state house district.
The current 78th state house district which Brad Paquette is seeking a third term will now be the 37th state house district and cover southeastern Berrien County and western Cass County. The current 79th state house district represented by Pauline Wendzel will now be part of the 39th state house district that covers northern Berrien County north to Allegan County.
In the 37th state house district, Paquette faces Three Oaks resident J.D. Haughey in the Republican primary in August with the winner facing Democrat Naomi Ludman of Dowagiac in November.
The 38th state house district is the new lakeshore district. Republicans George Lucas of Harbert, Troy Rolling of Benton Harbor and Kevin Whiteford of South Haven will face off in the August primary as will Democrats Joey Andrews of St. Joseph and Annie Brown of South Haven.
The 39th state house district will feature Wendzel of Coloma facing off with Matt Nilson of Hartford for the Republican nomination in August with the winner facing Democrat Jared Polonowski of Otsego in November.
In county races, two of 12 county commission districts will see a contested primary in August. Those are the third district where Democrats Chokwe Pitchford and Joseph Taylor, both of Benton Harbor, are vying to succeed Don Meeks who is not running for re-election.
In the ninth district, Michael Davidson of Three Oaks and Alexander Ott of Sawyer are facing off in the Republican primary in August with the winner facing Democrat Michelle Hannon of New Buffalo in November. Incumbent Ezra Scott is not running for re-election.
In November, incumbent Democrat Rayonte Bell faces Republican Karen Garlanger for the fifth district, both are from St. Joseph. Incumbent Republican Teri Freehling faces Democrat Brett Muchow of Buchanan for the eighth district seat. In the 12th district, incumbent Republican Michael Majerek will face Democrat Charlton McCully, both of Niles.
A handful of township board elections will be on August primary to fill partial terms as will a number of local proposals. Three incumbent county judges, Gary Bruce, Donna Howard and Charles LaSata are running unopposed for re-election as is newcomer Paul Jancha, Jr. who running unopposed for the seat left by the retirement of Dennis Wiley.
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