Republicans, incumbents winners in local elections

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
Republicans and incumbents were among the big winners in Tuesday’s general election in Presque Isle County.
Republican Donald Trump pulled off the upset in the race for the White House and will become the 45th President of the United States, Jan. 20, 2017.
He was an overwhelming winner in the county with 61.83 percent of the vote. His closest competitor, Democrat Hillary Clinton, had 33.08 percent. The vote count was 4,486 to 2,400 in the county.
It will be the status quo at courthouse square in Rogers City.
Presque Isle County sheriff Bob Paschke was re-elected to another four years in the sheriff’s office. Paschke received 4,713 of the 7,134 votes cast. Former Onaway police chief James Gibson received 2,395 of the votes.
Democrat Ann Marie Main will serve another four years in the county clerk’s race with 4,559 of the vote count. She faced a challenge from write-in Rachel Romel-Galer. There were 708 write-in votes, but as of early Wednesday, it was too early to determine how many write-ins belonged to Romel-Galer.
All three incumbent county commissioners retained seats.
Democrat Bob Schell won in District 1 over Green Party candidate Wayne Vermilya, 732 to 378.
In District 4, Republican chairman Carl Altman outdistanced Gary Rickard, 920 to 326.
Incumbent Republican Stephen Lang held on in District 5. Democrat John Chappa received strong voter support, but came up short. Lang keeps the seat, 895 to 801.
The historical millage, the only county-wide measure, went down, 5,173 to 1,572. Organizers of the proposal urged a “no” near the end of the election and got it.
The Rogers City Fire Authority proposition was renewed for another five years. It’s one mill from 2017 to 2020.
There were upsets in the school board election in Rogers City as well as the election of Onaway city commissioners, as a couple of incumbents fell.
Newcomers claimed two seats on the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education. Devin Pommerenke (1,713) and Larry Budnick (1,706) ran away with the election Tuesday night. Incumbent president John Krajenta was not able to retain his seat, receiving 848 votes in the district’s seven precincts.
Incumbent Onaway commissioner Ron Horrocks lost by only one vote. He was edged out by former city Department of Public Works employee Pat Preseau, 123 to 122. The top vote getter in Onaway was Matthew Dunn with 186 votes. There is more than likely a recount coming in that race.
It’s not the only tight race for Main and the county board of canvassers to go over, as there was a tie for Posen Township trustee. Republican Steve Hentkowski got one seat with 232, but Darrin Darga and Kathleen Kieliszewski finished tied at 168 for the second seat.
The rest of the winners at the township level are as follows: Keith Wregglesworth, Case Township supervisor; Mark Dean, Trevor Most, Allis Township trustee; Duane L. Walker, Patricia Augustine, Bearinger Township trustee; Robert L. Hopp, Eileen Brege, Belknap Township trustee; Larry Fields, Presque Isle Township supervisor; Cynthia Paavola, Presque Isle Township clerk; Lynn Morrison, Barton Hellmuth, Presque Isle Township trustee.
Republican Jack Bergman defeated Democrat Lon Johnson for the 1st District House seat in Washington. The vote count in 32 counties was 201,154 to 144,319.
Republican Sue Allor will represent the 106th District in Lansing after defeating Democrat Robert Kennedy 29,791 to 16,937.
Election results in the county are unofficial until certified by the county board of canvassers, which met after the Advance had gone to print.