Elections for local offices are being decided around the country. Voters in Kalamazoo, Portage and Parchment are electing leaders. There are also ballot measures before voters in Kalamazoo County and elsewhere. The polls closed at 8 p.m. At 11:05 pm, 65 percent of county precincts were reporting. Absentee ballots were partially reported.
Kalamazoo County: local elections and a transit millage
Across Kalamazoo County, voters are weighing in on a proposed transit millage renewal with a slight increase. The millage funds bus and other transit service through the Central County Transportation Authority (CCTA).
If passed, the tax will be in effect for five years, at a rate of up to 1.1 mills or $1.10 per $1,000 of taxable value. The previously-authorized transit millage was 0.9 mills.
At 11:05 pm, with 32 of 51 precincts reporting, the millage was passing with more than 77% of the vote.
See Kalamazoo County results from the clerk-register's office.
City of Kalamazoo: mayor’s race and city commission
Kalamazooans are electing a mayor and three city commissioners Tuesday.
Incumbent mayor David Anderson, who has served on the city commission since 2005 according to his biography on the League of Women Voters’ vote411 guide, was first elected mayor in 2019. Anderson is running against two challengers, Chris Glasser and Robert E. Gray.
At 11:05 pm, with 19 of 19 city precincts reporting, Anderson was winning the mayoral race with 64.34% of the vote. Absentee ballots have not all been counted.
Ten people are running for three seats on the seven-member Kalamazoo City Commission: Kizzy N. Bradford, Soloman J. Carpenter, Bernard Dervan III, Keshia Dickason, Drew Duncan, Thomas Durlach, Stephanie Hoffman, Sara L. Schlack, Jaqueline Slaby and Jessica Thompson.
Hoffman is the only incumbent among the candidates.
Portage: mayor’s race, city council elections and a school bond proposal
In Portage, incumbent mayor Patricia Randall is running against former Portage City Council member and Kalamazoo County Commissioner Nasim Ansari.
Randall has served as mayor for eight years and was a council member for eight years as well, according to her vote411 statement.
Seven candidates are running for three open seats on the seven-seat Portage City Council. They are: Victor Ledbetter, Mark McKeon, Jason Mikkelborg, Kathleen Olmsted, Terry R. Urban, Jay Woodhams and Jihan Ain Young.
Ledbetter, Urban and Young are incumbents.
Portage Public Schools residents will vote on a $132.4 million bond proposal for school improvements across the district.
Parchment: Parchment residents are electing a mayor and three other members of its city commission. The candidates are Robert D. Britigan III, Kristen Capelli, Michael E. Conner, Tammy Cooper, Genevieve Gibson, Nina R. Mihalek and Elizabeth June Seeger.
Britigan is the incumbent mayor. Cooper and Conner are also incumbents.
Other Kalamazoo County proposals
Like Portage, the Comstock, Galesburg-Augusta, and Parchment schools have bond proposals on the ballot, and Richland Community Library has a millage proposal.
