Oakland County results: Oakland County Commission grows bluer for Democrats
Four years ago, Oakland County voters turned the county board of commissioners from its longtime Republican color — bright red — to a pale blue majority of one for the Democrats.
In Tuesday's voting, county residents continued that trend, adding two more commissioner seats to the existing slender Democratic majority rule on the county board. The commission election was the first since a redistricting trimmed two board positions for the upcoming year, creating a 19-member board. Democrats picked up two seats with all votes counted in the early hours of Wednesday. By flipping two Republican seats to Democrats, they widened their slim one-vote margin on the board of commissioners to a comfortable 11-8 split.
The swing districts were open seats in the newly drawn District 4, covering Auburn Hills and the southern half of Rochester Hills; and in the newly drawn District 14, covering Wixom, Walled Lake, northern Novi and part of Commerce Township.
In District 14's county commission contest, Democrat Dr. Ajay Raman defeated Robert Smiley, a Wixom city councilman. Raman polled 52% of the votes cast, to 48% for Smiley, as of Wednesday morning. In District 4's race, Brendan Johnson polled 52% of votes cast, defeating the Republican, Kevin McDaniel, the part-time mayor of Auburn Hills, who tallied 47%.
Those fortuitous results for Democrats are coupled with a blue lock on all but one of the top countywide jobs.
More:Absentee ballot counting at Huntington Place lacks drama and chaos of 2020
More:Michigan Election Day 2022 live updates: Long line at U-M lasts past poll closure
Democrats occupy the offices of county executive, clerk, treasurer and water resources commissioner, with the lone Republican being longtime Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. The shift to blue has been dramatic in the last two decades, leaving in the dust the county's long era of Republican dominance. The Democratic growing majority means that the county board can continue its tradition of passing balanced budgets while allocating spending in new ways, Democratic leaders have said in recent days.
Judgeship
A key local race for judge kept a longtime incumbent on the bench to handle cases from Oak Park, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Royal Oak Township (not the city of Royal Oak). In that race for judge of 45th District Court, 20-year incumbent Michelle Friedman Appel won in a landslide against challenger Brenda Richard. Friedman Appel, whose father preceded her as judge of 45th District, polled 64% of the vote to 36% for Richard, according to unofficial results as of Wednesday morning.
Schools
Also on Oakland County ballots in selected communities were major school funding measures in Troy, Southfield, Clarkston and Royal Oak.
In Troy, voters approved a hefty bond proposal of $555 million, with 59% yes votes while 41% tallied no. The bonds will be repaid with property taxes over the next 30 years. Troy has a big, high-performing district of about 12,000 students, and with school buildings' average age pegged at 48 years, leaders pushed for the funding measure to improve all of their buildings but specifically to replace an outdated middle school with an entirely new buildings, Superintendent Rich Machesky said last month.
In Southfield, with 100% of precincts counted, voters passed a bond proposal of $345 million, also planned for a 30-year term of repayment through property taxes. The funding measure received 69% yes votes. The district has seen significantly declining enrollment, dropping from about 10,000 students a dozen years ago to roughly half that, a city official said.
In Clarkston, voters were deciding on a school bond measure of $197.5 million, which was aimed at extending the current tax rate to update facilities and build a new middle school. With just 37% of precincts counted, the yes votes were leading.
In Royal Oak, voters decisively approved the renewal of a millage that funds the school district's sinking fund. With 100% of the vote reported, those in favor tallied 66% of votes cast; no votes received 34%. A sinking fund is like a savings account into which a local unit of government, such as a school district, deposits revenue from a voter-approved property tax to save for future projects or repairs. It's a "pay-as-you-go" method of funding, to quote the Royal Oak Schools' website.
Contact: blaitner@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oakland County results: Voters put more Democrats on county board
