2024 Kalamazoo County Commission Races

This post was last updated August 9, 2024.

Democrats won a 6-3 majority on the Kalamazoo County Commission in 2022, which was a bad year for Republicans.  The Kalamazoo redistricting commission, which is dominated by D countywide elected officials, drew a new district map that is a soft D gerrymander, which is likely to produce 6 D and 3 R seats in most years.  No commissioners are retiring this year.

The following post has detailed descriptions of the districts and their political leanings. The numbers given are the 2022 election result and percentages for Trump (2016), O'Brien (2018), Trump (2020), and Balkema (2020).  Incumbents are marked below with asterisks.

List of Kalamazoo County Candidates

District 1 [N Kalamazoo] Safe Democrat
0-100 T16 20.3, O18 21.3, T20 21.5, B20 28.6
Democrat: Tami Rey*
Republican: Douglas Olivares

This is the majority minority district.  Property manager Tami Rey won this seat in 2020 after Stephanie Moore vacated it for an unsuccessful race for state house.

District 2 [Westwood, WMU] Safe Democrat
0-100 T16 30.3, O18 30.2, T20 26.7, B20 34.5

Democrat: Jen Strebs*

Republican: Gary Mitchell

This district includes the WMU area of Kalamazoo.  Kalamazoo Township Board member Jen Strebs defeated longtime commissioner Michael Seals (10-20) in the 2020 D primary.  Mitchell was a 2022 state house candidate.  Mitchell defeated Andrew Smith in the R primary.

District 3 [SW, SE Kalamazoo] Safe Democrat
22-78 T16 24.7, O18 25.2, T20 22, B20 31.4

Democrat: Monteze Morales*
Republican: Ron Austin

Monteze Morales was appointed in June 2021 to replace Zac Bauer, who resigned after being appointed in 2019.  She previously lost the 2020 D primary to Bauer.  Morales was elected to this district after Tracy Hall retired in 2022.

District 4 [W Portage] Safe Democrat
42-58 T16 44.7, O18 47, T20 39.9, B20 49.5

Democrat: Abigail Wheeler*
Republican: Jason Mikkelborg

Portage used to be R territory, but it moved left under President Trump.  Abigail Wheeler was a Mattawan trustee who lost a race for state house in 2020, and then moved to Portage.  She succeeded Michael Quinn in 2022.

District 5 [E Portage] Safe Democrat
43-57 T16 43.3, O18 45.1, T20 39.9, B20 48.3

Democrat: John Patrick Taylor*

Republican: none

Portage used to be R territory, but it moved left under President Trump.  Meredith Place (18-20), the wife of longtime commissioner John Patrick Taylor (02-16), was elected Kalamazoo County Clerk in 2020.  Fran Melgar was elected in 2020 and retired in 2022.  Taylor was elected here after previously representing the city of Kalamazoo.

District 6 [Comstock, Pavilion, Brady, Climax, Wakeshma] Safe Republican

57-43 T16 56.2, O18 57.2, T20 53.4, B20 61.1

Democrat: none
Republican: John Gisler*

Commissioner John Gisler (10-12, 14-P) has represented the southern townships for the last decade.

District 7 [Cooper, Richland, Ross, Charleston, Galesburg, and Parchment] Safe Republican

55-45 T16 58.3, O18 58.4, T20 55.8, B20 62.2

Democrat: Andy Davis
Republican: Jeff Heppler*

Heppler (02-16, 20-P) lost a race for sheriff in 2016.  He defeated appointed incumbent Jen Aniano (D) to return in 2020.

District 8 [Texas, Schoolcraft, Prairie Ronde] Safe Republican
53.7-46.3 T16 56.3, O18 58.3, T20 51.2, B20 61.1

Democrat: Matthew Miller
Republican: Wendy Mazer*

Texas Township Trustee Wendy Mazer, a solid conservative, was elected in 2022.

District 9 [Oshtemo, Alamo] Lean Democrat
44.3-55.7 T16 43.7, O18 45.9, T20 41.5, B20 50.0

Democrat: Dale Deleeuw*
Republican: Nicole Wagner
Former police officer Dale Deleeuw was elected in 2022.  He succeeded Dale Shugars, who did not seek reelection.