Here's what's on the ballot at the state, county and local levels this November

Voters in West Michigan will have full ballots in the November 2022 midterm election. Ballots will include statewide, congressional, municipal and school board positions, along with a handful of statewide proposals.

Here's a rundown of candidates and topics on the ballot in the Holland area Tuesday, Nov. 8. To view your sample ballot, visit michigan.gov/sos/elections.

Statewide and Congressional

A trio of prominent statewide offices — governor, attorney general and secretary of state — will be on November’s ballot.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is seeking a second term. She faces Republican Tudor Dixon, who emerged from a crowded primary in August. Third party candidates include Mary Buzema (Libertarian), Donna Brandenburg (U.S. Taxpayers), Kevin Hogan (Green) and Daryl Simpson (Natural Law).

More:Holland fiber project passes, Ottawa County commission shakeup: Primary election results

Democrat Dana Nessel is seeking reelection as attorney general against Republican Matthew DePerno. Joseph McHugh Jr. (Libertarian) and Gerald Van Sickle (U.S. Taxpayers) are running as well.

Candidates for secretary of state are Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Republican Kristina Karamo, Libertarian Gregory Stempfle, Christine Schwartz of U.S. Taxpayers and Larry Hutchinson Jr. from the Green Party.

Southern portions of Ottawa County and all of Allegan County will vote in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District. Republican Bill Huizenga is seeking reelection in the newly drawn district, facing Democrat Joseph Alfonso, who made the ballot after a successful write-in campaign. Lorence Wenke of the Libertarian party and Curtis Clark of U.S. Taxpayers are also on the ballot.

Most of the northern half of Ottawa County is located in the 3rd Congressional District, and will decide between Democrat Hillary Scholten and Republican John Gibbs.

Three statewide proposals to amend the state’s constitution will also be decided in November.

Proposal 22-1 aims to change the state’s term limits. If adopted, the proposal will limit state legislators to 12 years of service, which can be served entirely in either the state house or senate, or in a combination of both. The proposal also adds financial disclosure requirements for legislators, the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and lieutenant governor.

Proposal 22-2 deals with voting laws. If approved, the constitutional amendment would add nine days of in-person early voting, allow voters to verify their identity with photo ID or a signed statement, allow voters to use a single application to vote absentee in all elections, require state-funded absentee-ballot drop boxes and postage for absentee applications and ballots, make it so post-election audits may only be conducted by election officials, require military or overseas ballots to be counted if postmarked by election day — and more.

The final proposal, Proposal 22-3, deals with reproductive rights. It would add a constitutional amendment to “establish new individual right to reproductive freedom” for all decisions about pregnancy including childbirth, abortion, postpartum care, contraception, prenatal care and infertility. It would also invalidate state laws conflicting with the amendment.

More:Michigan's Proposal 1 would change term limits, require financial disclosure for lawmakers

More:The abortion rights amendment made Michigan's ballot. Here's exactly what it says

Voters will also choose two members of the state board of education, two regents of the University of Michigan, two trustees for Michigan State University and two governors of Wayne State University.

Michigan Legislature 

A pair of incumbent state senators are running for reelection in the area. Aric Nesbit, R-Lawton, will face Kim Jorgensen Gane, D-Benton Harbor, in the 20th Senate District — covering most of Allegan County. In the 31st Senate District, incumbent Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, will face Kim Nagy, D-Jenison.

There are four state house races of note in the Holland area — districts 38, 43, 85 and 86.

In District 38, Republican Kevin Whiteford of South Haven will face Democrat Joey Andrews from St. Joseph. The district covers the lakeshore from Saugatuck to the Indiana-Michigan border.

District 43 pits Democrat Mark Ludwig of Fennville against Republican Rachelle Smit of Shelbyville. The district includes most of Allegan County and a small section of Ottawa County south of Hudsonville.

In District 85, covering a portion of Ottawa County — including Zeeland and Hudsonville — incumbent Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, will face Todd Avery, D-Jenison.

District 86 covers the city of Holland and the surrounding area, including Park Township, Holland Township and Laketown Township. Nancy DeBoer, R-Holland, will face Larry Jackson, D-Holland.

Ottawa and Allegan

There are no countywide proposals in Ottawa County, but a handful of county commissioner races will be contested in November.

In District 1, voters will choose between Republican Gretchen Cosby, a member of Ottawa Impact, and Democrat Danielle Smith. District 2 features Republican Lucy Ebel, another Ottawa Impact-backed candidate, against Democrat Joe Spaulding.

More:Ottawa County board members ousted over handling of COVID-19 pandemic

District 3, which includes Holland, pits incumbent Democrat Doug Zylstra against Republican Daniela Garcia.

Finally, incumbent Republican Roger Bergman will face Democrat Douglas VanBennekom in District 10.

Two county commissioner races out of five will be contested in Allegan County. Incumbent Dean Kappenga, a Republican from Hamilton, will face Don Doggendorf, a Democrat from Fennville, in District 2. In District 5, incumbent Gale Dugan, R-Otsego, will face Austin Marsman, D-Martin.

Municipal

Contested local offices include a Holland Township trustee partial term with Democrat Doug Becker facing Republican David DeYoung. Voters in Laketown Township will choose between Anne Brand and Jeremy Van Hoven for parks commissioner, while Kenneth Butler, Elliot Sturm and Jane Dickie are running for a parks commissioner seat in Saugatuck Township.

There are four seats available on the Douglas City Council. Incumbents Neal Seabert and Phil Toepper are joined on the ballot by C. Daniel Urquhart, John O’Malley and Randy Walker.

Saugatuck City Council also has four seats open with only two incumbents seeking reelection. Lauren Stanton and Scott Dean will aim to keep their seats with Jan Verplank, Gregory Muncey, Helen Baldwin, Catherine Simon and Mark Miller running as well.

There are a handful of local proposals in both Ottawa and Allegan counties.

The city of Holland is asking for voter opinions on selling 23.95 acres of land at 4036 Hillside Trail in Laketown Township. The property was purchased in 2001 to develop a southern drinking water facility, but the facility was never built and is no longer needed. Approval by three-fifths of the electorate is needed for the city to sell the land, per city charter.

Patmos Library in Jamestown Township is again seeking a renewal and increase to its operating millage, totaling 0.60 mill for 10 years. The proposal was voted down in August with residents voting “no” due to books with LGBTQ themes.

More:National attention as Jamestown Township library millage fails over LGBTQ books

Olive Township is seeking a renewal and restoration of a road millage. The tax rate has been reduced to 1.9372 through rollbacks and the township is seeking a renewal and increase back to 2.0 mills for 2022-2025.

Park Township voters will decide on a replacement of the township’s expiring public safety millage. The current millage, set at 0.67 mill, expires Dec. 31, and the township has proposed replacing that with a 1.5 mill tax levied for four years, 2023-2026.

More:New public safety millage in Park Township would mean full-time fire chief, enhanced water rescue

If approved, the millage would fund public safety services including law enforcement contracts, water rescue operations, fire department operations, facility maintenance and more.

A proposed millage in Laketown Township would provide funding for constructing, furnishing and equipping new restrooms at seven parks across the township. Voters will decide on a 0.4562 mill bond for $1.21 million over no more than five years.

The parks included in the proposal are Wolters Woods Park, Sanctuary Woods Park, Township Hall Park, Shore Acres Park, Farview Park, Laketown Beach Park and Huyser Farm Park.

The city of Fennville is seeking a Headlee Amendment Override to return the city’s charter millage to the previously authorized 15 mills. Rollbacks have reduced the millage to 11.2770 mills. If approved, the city’s general operating millage will be restored to 15 mills for 2023-2027.

There will be two local proposals on the ballot in Saugatuck Township. The first will be to renew a road and infrastructure millage and restore it to the original levy of 0.9665 mill over a period of five years, 2023-2027.

The second is a parks and trails millage proposal. Township voters will decide on a proposal to increase taxes by up to 0.5 mill for 10 years, 2023-2032, for operation and maintenance of parks, creating and maintenance of public trails and acquisition, preservation, improvement and conservation of park property.

A handful of renewals for local schools are on the ballot as well. Holland and Saugatuck schools will both ask for renewals of their state-mandated operating millage taxes on non-homestead properties. Saugatuck is also asking for renewals of its sinking fund and recreation millage.

More:Saugatuck school board to ask voters for funding renewals

School Board

Holland, Zeeland, West Ottawa, Saugatuck, Hamilton and Fennville all have school board positions on the ballot this fall.

In Holland, there are three six-year terms and one two-year partial term available. Incumbents Linda Falstad and Bree Austin-Roberts are running against Chris Arendshort, Lois Mulder, Katie Staroba and Laurie Van’t Hof for the full terms. Staroba and Van’t Hof are Ottawa Impact-endorsed candidates. Current president Liz Colburn is running unopposed for the partial term.

Zeeland has two six-year terms and a two-year partial term up for grabs. Incumbents Rick Dernberger and April DeWitt are joined on the ballot by Gerald Rademaker for the six-year seats, while incumbent Betsy Kikstra is running unopposed for the partial term.

There are four four-year terms available at West Ottawa. Candidates are incumbents Darrin Duistermars, Lynn Rutan and Randy Schipper and newcomers Chris Kleinjans and Jim Otteman.

Candidates for two six-year terms in Hamilton are incumbents Jason Thomas and Candice Dykstra, along with Lisa Theodore and Ross Miedema.

In Saugatuck three incumbents — Nicole Lewis, Eric Birkholz and Marcy Weston — are running unopposed for reelection.

Three six-year terms are up for election in Fennville along with one partial two-year term. Incumbents Paul Hapke and Manuel Sanchez are running for the full terms along with Stacy Thiele, Jennifer Acterhof and Angie Pena-Smith.

Natalie Bustillos is the lone candidate seeking the partial term.

Judicial Races

A handful of spots on the bench will be contested in statewide and local races. Two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court are up for election, with incumbents Richard Bernstein and Brian Zahra facing Kyra Bolden of Southfield, Paul Hudson of Kalamazoo and Kerry Lee Morgan of Redford.

Kathleen Feeney of Rockford and Raymond Voet of Ionia are vying for a six-year, non-incumbent position with the 3rd District Court of Appeals.

More:Candidates for Ottawa County's new Family Law judgeship make their case to voters

A new judge is being added for the 20th Circuit Court in Ottawa County, with Paul Kraus of Holland and Mercedes Watts of Jenison both running.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Here's what's on the ballot at the state, county and local levels this November