Bill Federspiel, a Saginaw Township police officer and former Saginaw City Councilman has defeated incumbent Democratic Sheriff Charles Brown in Tuesday's party primary. He will face Republican Kevin Campbell in November General Election. Federspiel won with a roughly 54-46% advantage.
In another contested Democratic race, Prosecutor Michael Thomas held off a challenge by former party chairman and longtime defense attorney Tom Frank. Competing in State House of Representative races, both incumbent Andy Coulouris (95th) and SADC favorite Garnet Lewis (98th) won easily over primary opponents. Coulouris defeated former county commissioner Terry Sangster overwhelmingly in a rematch of 2006 by 78-22%. Lewis trounced former Midland County Commissioner and sometime Republican Tom Dauer with 2585 total votes to only 823. That total includes both Midland and Saginaw Counties. Lewis will face Republican Jim Stamas in the fall. Coulouris will match up against Ted Rosingana.
Other results include Judi Lincoln's victory over Steve Fresorger in the 14th District County Commission race and successful defenses of commission seats by Carl Ruth and James Graham. In the Buena Vista Trustees contest, Greg Dietrich of the SADC and SCDP was the number two vote getter, more than enough to place him on the November ballot and likely a place on that board.
Another matchup of interest was for Michigan Court of Appeals (4th District), where local Democrats favored either Mike Kelly or Paula Manderfield over more conservative options. It turns out both well qualified candidates will advance to general election, while both their competitors with Republican ties will be left behind. Kelly had 39 percent of the vote and Manderfield 32 percent. Former Republican state Rep. Jim Howell of St. Charles had 17 percent and Eric Doster, former general counsel for the Michigan Republican Party, had 11 percent.
It's truly a win-win for Democrats across the 50+ counties represented by the sprawling judicial district that ranges from Lansing to the UP.
In proposals regarding Health Source and Commission on Aging, both millages passed.
More Primary Election coverage coming soon.