Emmet County election results: District 2 commissioner race decided by one vote

EMMET COUNTY — Emmet County voters saw a number of contested races on the Aug. 6 ballot, from the U.S. Senator race to township supervisor positions.

A total of 10,989 ballots were cast during Tuesday's election in Emmet County.

For U.S. Senate, both the Democratic and Republican tickets had contested races. Elissa Slotkin received more votes from Emmet County voters than Hill Harper did, winning the Democratic nomination.

Slotkin received 2,776 votes, while Harper received 304.

Justin Amash, Sherry O'Donnell, Sandy Pensler and Mike Rogers all ran on the Republican ticket. Rogers brought in the most votes, receiving 3,519, while O'Donnell had 1,062 votes, Amash had 876 votes and Pensler had 690 votes.

The congressional representative seat for District 1 saw contested races in both parties on Aug. 6.

Callie Barr and Bob Lorinser both had their names on the Democratic ballot, with Barr bringing in 1,804 votes and Lorinser bringing in 1,210, according to unofficial results.

Jack Bergman and Josh Saul had their names on the Republican ballot for the same seat. Bergman won the vote, bringing in 5,136 votes, while Saul had 1,601.

For the Michigan House 107th seat, Emmet County voters could pick between Republicans Parker Fairbairn and incumbent Neil Friske on the Aug. 6 ballot. The winner will face Jodi Decker, who ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket, in November.

Fairbairn won the county's vote, receiving 4,828 votes as opposed to Friske's 2,194.

Emmet County saw a close race for sheriff. Current Undersheriff Matt Leirstein won the vote, bringing in 3,635, just 359 more than Randy Kloss' 3,276.

There were contested races for some Emmet County Board of Commissioners seats as well. Districts 1-2 saw contested races, while districts 3-7 were uncontested in the primary.

Mike Adams and Mark Sommers ran on the Democratic ticket to serve District 1, which represents Bliss, Cross Village, Carp Lake, Center, McKinley, Readmond and Wawatam townships, along with Pellston and part of Mackinaw City. Charles Laughbaum ran uncontested on the Republican ticket. Sommers won the Democratic nomination, earning 273 votes. Adams brought in 127 votes.

Neil Ahrens and Brett Gooding ran on the Republican ticket to serve District 2, which represents Friendship, Maple River, Pleasantview and West Traverse townships. Both candidates were separated by just one vote, with Gooding bringing in 585 votes compared to Ahrens' 584.

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Voters in certain townships also saw contested races for various positions, including township supervisor and trustee roles.

In West Traverse Township, Dawson Moore and Edward Murphy ran for the township supervisor position on the Republican ticket. Murphy received 318 votes and Moore received 224 votes.

Resort Township saw Christian Picciolini and incumbent Bob Wheaton running on the Republican ticket for the position of Resort Township Supervisor. Wheaton won, having received 495 votes. Picciolini received 291 votes.

Resort voters were able to choose from three candidates to fill two open seats for township trustee. Nicholas Cononico, Tim Howard and Alfred Welsheimer ran on the Republican ticket. Howard took home the most votes with 493, followed by Welsheimer with 371 and Cononico with 289.

Winning candidates from the Aug. 6 election will be on the ballot in the Nov. 5 general election.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN .

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Emmet County election results: District 2 commissioner race decided by one vote