2012 Kalamazoo Primary Election Preview

This is a preview of elections in Michigan in 2012. It focuses on primary elections. This post was last updated on February 25, 2012.

While most of political coverage has focused on the 2012 presidential primary races, there will be many other races on the ballot. Here is an overview of the races relevant to Kalamazoo readers. More detailed profiles of some of the races will follow soon.
[List of Michigan Presidential Candidates][List of Primary Election Candidates]

February 28: Presidential Primary
This is the date of Michigan's Presidential Primary. There are eleven candidates listed on the Republican primary ballot. Five of them have since dropped out, and two (Roemer, Karger) are not widely regarded as serious candidates, leaving Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich as Republicans' choices. The winner will face President Barack Obama and various third party candidates in November.

There are also a couple special elections on this date.

District 29 (Pontiac) Safe Democrat
This election to replace a democrat state rep Tim Melton is likely to be won by democrat county commissioner Tim Greimel.

District 51 (south Genesee) Lean Republican
This is to replace recalled state rep Paul Scott. It features Republican Joseph Graves, a county commissioner from the Fenton area, versus democrat Steven Losey, a union boss. The race leans Republican, thanks in part to the likely electorate of the Republican Presidential Primary.

November 6: General Election
President (Michigan)
Michigan leans slightly to the left in Presidential elections. This means that democrats need to win Michigan to win the White House, but Republicans don't. Michigan still has a bad economy thanks to eight years of democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm. Will this help Republicans in the presidential race? Perhaps.

August 7: Other Primaries
US Senate
Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow is seeking a third term. Seven Republicans are seeking to replace her. They are Scotty Boman, Clark Durant, Gary Glenn, Randy Hekman, Pete Hoekstra, Peter Konetchy, and Chuck Marino. Hoekstra is a former congressman who represented the 2nd district in West Michigan 1992-2010. He lost the Republican primary for governor in 2010. He is the favorite, leading in the polls and in fundraising. His main competitor is Durant, a businessman. Candidates all need to submit 10,000 valid signatures to make the ballot, meaning that it is very questionable whether any of the others will do so.
I-Caucus of Michigan and the Michigan Republican Senate Primary

US House of Representatives
Only one of Michigan's 14 congressional districts is likely to have a competitive general election. However, there are interesting primaries shaping up in the 5th, 6th, 13th and 14th districts. Other primaries may still develop. The following post examines the races in greater detail.
2012 Michigan Congressional Races

Michigan Supreme Court
Conservative Republican Steven Markman will likely seek reelection. Appointed Republican Brian Zhara will likely seek to fill the remainder of the term to which he was appointed. Democrat Marilyn Kelly has reached the age limit, so her seat will be open. Republicans currently have a 4-3 majority on the court, so this election could result in anything from 5-2 D to 5-2 R.

Education Boards
Two seats each on the Michigan Board of Education and University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University boards of trustees will be up for election.

Ballot Proposals
Nothing is expected to be on the ballot at this time.

Michigan House of Representatives
All 110 seats in the Michigan state house will be up for election. Some members will be term-limited. Republicans currently have a 63-37 majority. The new redistricting plan helps Republicans some, but not as much as it could have.

In the greater Kalamazoo area...

59th District (St. Jospeh, Cass County) Safe Republican
Incumbent Republican Matt Lori should have no trouble getting reelected.

60th District (Kalamazoo city) Safe democrat
Incumbent democrat Sean McCann has an even safer district than before, and should have no trouble getting reelected.

61st District (Portage, Oshtemo) Safe Republican
Conservative Republican Margaret O'Brien will likely be reelected easily. The district became safer by losing western Kalamazoo Township to the 60th and adding Schoolcraft Township.

62nd District (Battle Creek, Albion) Safe democrat
Incumbent democrat Kate Segal should have no trouble getting reelected. This district became more democrat with the addition of Bedford and Pennfield.

63rd District (E Kalamazoo, S Calhoun) Safe Republican
Republican Speaker Jase Bolger won't have trouble with reelection in a district that drops Bedfore and Pennfield and adds rural conservative townships in Calhoun.

80th District (Van Buren, Cooper) Safe Republican
Conservative Republican Aric Nesbitt should be safe in a district that drops a small piece of Allegan and adds NW Kalamazoo.

88th District (Allegan County) Safe Republican
Conservative Republican Bob Genetski should have no trouble with reelection in this solidly conservative district.

Republican incumbents will run for reelection in districts 58 (Hillsdale/Branch Counties), 79 (northern Berrien County), and 87 (Barry County). Republicans Sharon Tyler will vacate districts 78 (southern Berrien County) to seek to become Berrien County Clerk.

Kalamazoo Countywide Offices
All six countywide offices are up for election. Republicans hold all six offices.

Sheriff: Democrat Richard Fuller defeated Republican Michael Anderson in 2008. There is at least one Republican running, and more are possible.

Prosecutor: It is unknown whether incumbent Republican Jeff Fink will seek reelection. If he does not, it is likely that one of his assistant prosecutors will run.

Clerk: Incumbent Republican Tim Snow will seek reelection. He will face democrat County Commissioner Brian Johnson.

Treasurer: Republican Mary Balkema, who was appointed to replace Sharon Cubitt in 2007, will seek reelection. Balkema barely defeated a token challenger in 2008. It is likely that liberal billionaire Jon Stryker will fund a stronger challenger this time due to Balkema's opposition to a 'gay rights' ordinance in Kalamazoo city in 2009.

Drain Commissioner: The incumbent is democrat Patricia Crowley. In 2008, she defeated Republican Pat Crouse who was appointed to replace Bill French, who was convicted of a crime. She will face Republican County Commissioner Nasim Ansari, who had applied for the position in 2008.

Surveyor: Republican Bill Hahn is the incumbent. This position is usually unopposed. The position is unpaid, and its holder must be a licenced surveyor.

Kalamazoo County Commission
Republicans have a 10-7 majority on the commission. Redistricting will shrink the commission to 11 seats, changing the district boundaries. The new map is likely to yield a 7-4 Republican majority. It is not known yet who will run for reelection. There may be several incumbent v. incumbent races unless several incumbents retire. The following post has detailed descriptions of the districts and their political leanings.

Kalamazoo County Commission Districts.

District 1 [Carolyn Alford, Robert Barnard] Safe Democrat
District 2 [David Buskirk, Jack Urban] Safe Democrat
District 3 [John Taylor] Safe Democrat
District 4 [Brian Johnson, Michael Seals] Safe Democrat
District 5 [Open] Safe Republican
District 6 [Jeff Heppler, Dale Pominville] Safe Republican
District 7 [Ann Nieuwenhuis] Safe Republican
District 8 [John Gisler, David Maturen] Safe Republican
District 9 [Tim Rogowski, Brandt Iden] Safe Republican
District 10 [Phil Stinchcomb] Safe Republican
District 11 [John Zull, Nasim Ansari] Safe Republican

Township Elections
There are plenty of contested township elections. A few are noteworthy.

Comstock Township: Incumbent democrat Tim Hudson is not expected to seek reelection. There is no word on replacement candidates yet.

Kalamazoo Township: The democrat incumbent Supervisor is Terri Mellinger, who has had trouble paying her taxes. There are also four trustee positions currently held by democrats.

Oshtemo Township: The incumbent democrat is Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell. There are also four trustee positions up for election, two of which are currently held by appointee due to the resignations of Republican Jim Grace and democrat Scott McCormick.

Texas Township: Conservative Republican Dave Healy will likely seek reelection. Incumbent conservative Erin Hoogendyk is among the four incumbent Republican trustees.

School Boards
School board elections were moved to November by a recent bill. There is nothing to report on these elections yet.