2024 August Primary Election Guide, Mason County

[XLFD]

As with previous election guides, this one from the Ludington Torch provides links to learn more about candidates and proposals after summarizing them.  We focus mostly on policy and campaign strategies in our own summations.  We try not to offer endorsements, positive or negative, or advocate for anything other than the common good or who we objectively perceive is the better person for the job.  

Democrat Primary:

As in any primary election held in Mason County in the dog days of August, there's not a lot out there for you if you're in the Democratic Party to choose from.  If you are a registered county Democrat and early-vote, or go to your polling place in six days, you will find only one contested race on the ballot for the US Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Debby Stabenow.  

This race features two southeastern Michigan residents, Elissa Slotkin and Hill Harper, two reliable votes for the party, but with Slotkin enjoying a comfortable lead in the polls, more name recognition, more political experience, and a much deeper war chest than Harper, who seems a fairly solid candidate in his own right as a TV actor, Detroit business owner, author, and graduate from Harvard Law School.   Slotkin has relied upon her political advantages garnered from being a politician for several terms in the US House and figured a good strategy was to avoid meeting with Harper for debates.  

Slotkin will likely win this primary race due to her ability to run effective campaigns, but this is only a better reason to select Harper, who would be a formidable force in November were he to win and become a rising star in the Democrat political arena in the process.

Republicans

US Senate:  In the GOP, the US Senate race has four on the ballot, with Mike Rogers having the advantage of a Trump endorsement, and also of Sandy Pensler, who recently suspended his campaign to endorse Rogers.  For those with a more libertarian bend to their conservatism, there is former representative Justin Amash whose philosophical clashes with Trump in the past will alienate him from many primary voters who love Trump.  Lastly, Dr. Sherry O' Donnell is more solidly conservative than the other candidates, and if this primary was a 'blind taste test' over policy, she would likely secure the most votes.  

County Prosecutor:  This is the most exciting primary race in ten years, when four attorneys ran for the open circuit court seat vacated by Judge Richard Cooper's retirement in 2014, with Susan Sniegowski and Paul Spaniola surviving the cut, the former winning in November.  Like that race, this one features an experienced county prosecutor, a neighboring county prosecutor, and a defense attorney.  

Beth Hand is the prohibitive favorite, with the advantage of incumbency (albeit appointed after the elected prosecutor resigned) and in road signs littering the landscape.  Several questions remain of her past in Oakland County, where she served as assistant prosecutor for over two decades under Democrat prosecutors and was caught up in a scandal that had a visiting judge help a much younger Assistant Prosecutor Beth Hand gain convictions in at least six drug cases.  In one case, a law clerk witness reported, Judge Warshawsky declared a mistrial after listening to jury deliberations and concluding jurors were on the brink of an acquittal. In another, the clerk says Warshawsky allowed a prosecution witness to watch other witnesses' testimony before taking the stand.

The implications one gets when looking at news articles from 24 years ago is that the judge had a big weakness for young women and went out of his jurisprudence in order to help with the drug cases Ms. Hand brought before him, even the weak ones, in order to curry her favor and help her career goals.  As implicated by her opponents, she continues to bring weak cases in front of Mason County judges but fails to get as many convictions as she should.

Jordan Miller has done an admirable job of comparing and contrasting himself and Ms. Hand in their comparable jobs as assistant prosecutor; he has been one in Manistee County for several years, but would prefer plying his trade back in Ludington where he has sometimes humbly referred to himself as Mr. Brandy Miller, acknowledging his wife's high status in the county.  Miller does not seem to have any blemish on his record, has better Republican bona fides than Hand, and seems more willing to address the issues of the position more than the incumbent.  Miller is more likely to choose cases that the state would want prosecuted, be effective in prosecutions, and have more ethical actions than the current office holder, whose conduct has been questioned numerous times by the Ludington Torch.  

Becky Lederer is an experienced defense attorney operating within the county, she understands that the justice system here is not operating at its best, and therefore is not serving the causes of justice as good as it could.  She recognizes the backlog of cases and the selection of those cases as being related to poor prosecutorial performance, much like Miller does.  Her main problem is the lack of prosecutorial experience, but she does have the advantage of knowing how defense attorneys' minds work by being one for many years.  

Lederer and Miller will likely split the vote that would otherwise go against the past performance or present perception of Hand, so expect no clear mandate for the status quo unless Hand gets over 50% of the vote.  If you want to see how these candidates (and some others) perform in a debate, you may want to check out the recent debate held at Waterfront Park:

Drain Commissioner:  Next to the prosecutor race, you will see more election road signs for the two candidates in this race.  Larry Protasiewicz is a recent transplant to the Grant Township area whose signs features how to pronounce his name.  David Bendele is from the Custer area and seems to have more experience with our area's drainage issues, as reported.  Even if one mispronounces his name or sees his signs less often, Bendele should have the advantage for this position based on practical experience and longer-term residency. 

County Commissioner:  Most of these races are uncontested incumbents vying to serve two more years, but two are seeing some competition.  District 4 has Lew Squires being challenged by David Holden, and District 7 has Ron Bacon challenged by Aldon Maleckas.  

Holden (seen above in front of Squires) seems to be an earnest candidate who speaks smartly and well as a Republican and was likely hindered at the Waterfront debates by the vapidity of the questions; expect him to get a modest amount of votes from his door knocking, and recall that Squires fell short when the county redistricted the county and he went up against Curt VanderWall before he had state ambitions in 2012.  Squires has been a solid, dedicated commissioner for the district, so this should help his own efforts.

A frequent candidate, and just as frequently unsuccessful, Aldon Maleckas nevertheless has the intellect and Republican ideals that would make him a successful commissioner and add more thoughtfulness to the body, as seen in his letters to the local paper and the board.  Ron Bacon may be vulnerable, as the popular perception is that he hasn't done anything great for the district he serves and is more of a follower in the commission, rather than one who independently thinks like Aldon.  His debate performance was rather lackluster and terse, devoid of any red meat.  

Other races, especially in the city, will not develop until the next election either due to being nonpartisan and/or not having surplus candidates.  There will be a proposal to renew the senior center millage at the current rate, that should be passed unless you're totally against the concept of senior centers.  The Scottville Senior Center under Bill Kerans has allowed the city board to hold their meetings at their location over the last year, so one should look more favorably at this millage if they are worried that these centers aren't worth paying for.  

We appreciate all those who run for office, and will gladly update our guide if our perceptions or assumed facts are disputed by candidates or those who support them, or if we have missed important facts that should be considered.  

[Willy]

Thanks for this election coverage. Very good information. I'm not sure about most of the candidates except Rogers. He definitely has my vote. He is a proven advocate for the people. I would not vote for any Democrat because they support the platform of a Party whose objective is to bring America to it's knees thru intimidation, lying and control. Any person who has been paying attention knows where Democrats are headed and it isn't good. When I see a D after a politicians name I think of one thing.

[XLFD]

Anybody with Abrain medication would likely choose Rogers over what the Democrats offer, but this is a primary and Rogers past concerns me, much like it did for Rand Paul when Trump endorsed Rogers, calling him one of the biggest deep-state candidates.  Pensler's commercials showed Rogers talking like a never Trumper until this January.  IMHO, he's too RINO for me to get behind in a primary and I say that knowing that he probably has a better chance to win in the general election than Amash or O'Donnell.  If both he and Trump win in November, I think Rogers will act like another senator originally from Michigan with a first name starting with "Mi" and a six-letter last name starting with "Ro" who had presidentail ambitions almost fulfilled back in 2012.  

[Willy]

If not Rogers, who would you recommend?

[XLFD]

I'd go with Sherry O'Donnell; Amash was all too willing to impeach Trump in the past based on an innocuous phone call and would bury his dagger in the same wounds if given the chance.  I've said good things about Amash in the past, but when he has a full blown episode of TDS on the record that he has never recanted, he's part of the problem.

[XLFD]

No big surprises in the primary races yesterday as favorites/incumbents win easily.  Senate contenders Slotkin and Rogers win big in county, Hand wins handily, capturing well over 50% of the vote in a 3-way race.  Incumbent Commissioners Squires and Bacon get out their voters in two cake walks.  Here's the unofficial results.

[Willy]

Thanks for that link covering the election results.

[nedijer478]

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