Township primary elections to be held in August

submitted by Sybil Kolon, Community Reporter Corps
The August 4 primary election will determine the candidates who will represent each major party (Democratic and Republican) on the November ballot. Township clerks, supervisors, treasurers and trustees who plan to be on the August 4 primary ballot were required to submit petitions to represent one of those parties by April 21. This filing deadline was not affected by a recent court ruling that delayed the filing for congressional and non-incumbent judicial offices until May 8.

According to the Washtenaw County Elections website, “the order only pertains to offices that do not include an option to file with a filing fee. This means that the order doesn’t apply to any county or township office, nor does it apply to the office of State Representative. The only offices affected are:

• U.S. Senate
• U.S. Congress
• Wayne County Community College Trustee
• All Judicial Offices (only for candidates who are not the current incumbent)
• City Council Offices in the City of Ann Arbor and City of Ypsilanti

For all other offices, the filing deadline remains April 21.”

Anyone who would like to run for a township position with no party affiliation is required to file a petition with the township clerk by July 16. Information is available on the county website (https://www.washtenaw.org/304/Elections).

Minor political parties (Libertarian, U.S. Taxpayers, Green, Natural Law and Working Class) may hold party conventions this summer, where they may designate candidates to run for local offices. However, that has not been observed locally in the recent past.

The Washtenaw County elections website shows the unofficial list of candidates for Manchester Township: clerk Danell Proctor (R – incumbent); supervisor, Ron Milkey (R-current trustee); treasurer, Laurie Carey (D – incumbent), Kim Thompson (R); trustee, Mike Fusilier (R-appointed incumbent), Lisa Moutihno (R-incumbent) John Seefeld (D-incumbent). After serving for eight years in the supervisor position, Gene DeRossett has decided not to run for a third term.

The Manchester township board consists of the supervisor, treasurer, clerk and four trustees. In order to have a full board, at least one person needs to file as a candidate with no party affiliation by July 16. If no one steps up to do that, the newly elected board would then be allowed to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. If more than one person files to run with no party affiliation, the top four vote-getters would become the next trustees, regardless of party affiliation.

In Bridgewater Township, the following candidates have filed petitions for election. For clerk: Michelle McQueer (R-current incumbent treasurer); supervisor: Laurie Fromhart (R-incumbent); treasurer: Amy Ahrens (R); trustees: Geoffrey Oliver (R-incumbent), David Faust (R-incumbent). The Bridgewater Township board includes only two trustees so a full roster of candidates is currently on board. However, if anyone decides to file as a candidate with no party affiliation, they must file a petition with the county by July 16.

Freedom Township incumbent clerk Valisa Bristle (R), incumbent treasurer Rudy Layher (R), and both incumbent trustees Dan Schaible (R) and Dennis Huehl (R) all have filed petitions for re-election. Current supervisor Dale Weidmayer is stepping down and Larry Lindemann (R), a long-time township Planning Commissioner, has filed a petition for the supervisor position. All will run unopposed unless a candidate with no party affiliation files a petition with the county before July 16.

In Sharon Township, current appointed incumbent clerk Kimberley Potocki (R) has filed a petition for election in the August primary. Two candidates, incumbent Peter Psarouthakis (R) and Stephen Alber (R) have filed their petitions for the supervisor position. No one has filed a partisan petition with the County for the treasurer position, which is currently held by Brian Simons, although deputy treasurer Brian Brickley has filed with the township clerk to run as an independent in November. For the two trustee positions, only former clerk Chelsea Mikel (R) has filed. This means that unless candidates with no party affiliation come forward by July 16, these positions will be filled by appointment by the newly elected board in November.

Correction 5-7-20: In a previous version of this article, Kim Thomson was incorrectly identified as “current deputy treasurer”. 

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.