The council makeup in the Cloud remains unclear since while Lori Shears (117) and Herm Becker(105) were clear choices for 2 of the three open positions, the third ended in a dead heat between current council member Jerry LeBlanc and Candice Dault with each garnishing 73 votes. According to state law once the votes are certified, the candidates will be chosen by lot. Here’s the skinny on the law:
The Candidates will meet with Newaygo County Clerk Jason VanderStelt who will prepare two slips of paper, one with the word “elected” and one with “not elected” and place them in a box. Each candidate will draw from the box and whoever gets the elected slip is declared the winner. You can read the law at the bottom of our previous story: https://www.nearnorthnow.com/news/partial-unofficial-election-results-a-tie-in-white-cloud-so-far The irony? There was one write in vote tallied in White Cloud for the Council. Think your vote doesn’t mean much? That voter, or any of the 679 WC voters who sat this one out, could have decided the election. Yes, nearly 82% of the electorate in the county seat didn’t make it to the polls. Not unusual as over 80% of the voters sat idle in Fremont and Newaygo had almost 89% forego marking their ballots on Tuesday. Three of the four county mayors (Ed Fedell-Newaygo, Jim Rynberg-Fremont and Julie Hallman-Grant) ran unopposed collecting all but the usual handful of write in votes, however in White Cloud there was competition where incumbent mayor Jamie Denslow fought off a challenge from Michael Kymes by an 81-72 margin to retain his seat in City Hall. In Newaygo Erin Burns (126) joins incumbents Katie Walerczyk (134) and Lee Black(131) on the council, Fremont saw Bob Johnson(430) and incumbent Sandra Siegel (323) fend off three other challengers for the 2 council seats up for grabs, and Kate Block was the only registered candidate for the 3 seats at Grant City Hall. In Merrill Township Victoria Gibbs edged out Cathy Stroop 52-48 for the Treasurer's position and voters approved a return to annual meetings 73-27. Comments are closed.
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February 2025
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