PORT HURON — A few more names, including both newcomers and familiar names, are now in the mix to run for City Council three weeks ahead of Port Huron’s election filing deadline.
As of Friday, 15-year incumbent Pauline Repp and Councilwoman Anita Ashford, whose current council term expires in 2026, remain the only candidates who’ve pulled nominating petitions to run for mayor, and they each, respectively, saw their petitions certified by the city clerk’s office in April and early June.
Meanwhile, sitting Councilman Bob Mosurak and residents Holden Gauthier and Brain Farquhar, both frequent public commenters at local meetings, were so far the only candidates to turn in petitions seeking one of three council seats up for grabs in November’s city election.
Other incumbent councilmembers Teri Lamb and Sherry Archibald, who serves as mayor pro tem, have pulled but not yet returned their petitions to the city clerk’s office.
Each indicated earlier this year they planned to seek re-election.
Residents Richard Carwile, John Middleton, and Jason Heilig have also pulled nominating petitions. As have Barbara Payton, a local singer-songwriter and director for Blue Water Allies, and Kathleen McCready, a long-time resident organizer in the Harrison Pointe neighborhood.
Local gardener Julian Ruck pulled a petition to run for council in February. However, during the June 22 council meeting, Ruck, who recently reached an agreement with the city to move his community garden from Lapeer Avenue to the city’s south end, announced he wouldn’t be running.
“Right away, it’s going to be, ‘Julian got bought off with this deal and now he’s not.’ But here’s my reasoning, and I just want to state on public record why I’m no longer running for public council,” Ruck told council members. “My goal is and always has been to end food insecurity in this community permanently as soon as possible, which means as little conflict as possible along the way.
“And whereas, at first blush, being on the dais and moving along urban ag zoning, these type of technical things, might seem a way to do that. I think we with Polly’s Place, we’re kind of culturally developing our idea of what urban ag zoning would look like currently.”
Unlike other municipalities, the city of Port Huron has no primary in August for council-level office with top vote-getters competing for open seats in November.
The official deadline to turn nominating petitions in is 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 23. To be eligible, candidates must be a registered voter in the city and a resident of at least a year ahead of the election.
City Clerk Cyndee Jonseck said candidates’ petitions require 75 signatures.
She cautioned election hopefuls to ensure they get signatures from registered voters. “That’s the most common mistake,” she said. “Individuals who are not currently registered or they’re registered in a different jurisdiction.”
The term for mayor is two years, while the term for those serving on council is four years with three seats alternating expiration every two years.
In the event a sitting council member vacates a seat, such as election to another position, the next-highest vote-getter in the last city election would get an automatic appointment if the individual also received 25% or more of the vote. Otherwise, City Council can open up the appointment to applicants, such as when former councilmember Lisa Beedon ascended to the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners.
For more information, contact the clerk’s office at (810) 984-9725.
Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 3 weeks left to file to run for Port Huron city office
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