CHEBOYGAN — Cheboygan County Deputy Sheriff Todd Ross topped three other candidates in a closely contested race to become the next sheriff of Cheboygan County.
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Unofficial results showed that Ross earned 2,632 votes to finish ahead of county undersheriff Josh Ginop with 2,165 votes while John Studer had 745 votes. William Fitzpatrick received 132 votes. Ross will succeed the current sheriff, Tim Cook, who is retiring.
The vote came a day after a report in the Cheboygan Daily Tribune said a Michigan State Police investigation revealed allegations against Ginop and questions about how the department handled the incident.
Republican incumbent Cam Cavitt defeated challenger Todd Smalenberg for state representative in the 106th district, which includes parts of Alcona, Alpena, Cheboygan, Montmorency, Oscoda and Presque Isle counties. The Detroit Free Press reports that Cavitt received 58% of the vote to just under 42% for Smalenberg in the district.
In Cheboygan County, Cavitt got 3,126 votes to 1,716 for Smalenberg. Meanwhile, Democrat Trina Borenstein of Greenbush defeated Mary Hamilton of Hillman with 59% of the vote. Borenstein got 738 votes in Cheboygan County to Hamilton's 531. Borenstein will square off against Cavitt in November.
In a close race for the Cheboygan County Road Commission, incumbent Republican Ken Paquet received 1,933 votes. Republican Bradley Orsmbee got 1,919 votes while Republican Frederick Wilkinson received 1,891 votes. Republican incumbent Richard LaHaie earned 1,604 votes. Richard LaHaie's brother, Joe, ran under the Democratic Party banner and received 1,270 votes.
In the lone contested county commissioner race in District 2, incumbent Richard Sangster fended off challenger Robert Heikkinen with 292 votes to 140 for Heikkinen.
In the race for Inverness Township supervisor, Todd LaRocque received 310 votes to 218 for Thomas Eustice and 116 votes for Christopher Hudak. All are Republicans.
Voters approved a bond for the Cheboygan Area Schools totaling $22.2 million over 22 years to finance infrastructure and safety upgrades mainly to East Elementary School, which is the district's oldest building having opened in 1959. There were 1,931 yes votes to 1,471 no votes.
— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com .
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Cheboygan County election results: Ross tops sheriff field as Cavitt survives GOP challenge
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