KALAMAZOO, MI -- Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, Aug. 6, to make their voices heard on everything from Congress and the state House to township boards and local ballot proposals.
In partisan races, voters will select candidates to represent their party in the Nov. 5 general election. There are also nonpartisan races, like judge positions, where the field will be narrowed down to two this week.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Citizens can register to vote up until 8 p.m. on election day. Voters can check their voter registration status and find other voting information at mi.gov/vote.
Here are five notable races to watch this week in the Kalamazoo area.
District 40 includes the city of Portage and parts of Texas Township and Oshtemo Township.
This race is particularly notable, because current District 40 State Rep. Christine Morse, D-Texas Township, isn’t running again, leaving an opening for the two-year seat.
Morse is instead pursuing a new judge position in Kalamazoo County.
Two Democrats are vying for the nomination this week: former Portage Councilmember Lisa Brayton and public health expert Matt Longjohn. The winner will face Republican Kelly Sackett in November.
Brayton ran as a Republican for the Kalamazoo County Commission in 2020 before she was elected to a four-year term on the Portage City Council in 2021. She was disqualified from the city’s mayoral race in 2023 due to a residency issue.
Longjohn ran — as a Democrat — against Republican Fred Upton for a U.S. House seat in 2018. He faced criticism for using the title M.D. in campaign materials.
The Kalamazoo County Democratic Party has endorsed Longjohn in this race.
A new judgeship in Kalamazoo County’s 9th Circuit Court is being created as a result of Public Act 277 of 2022, in an effort to reduce the county’s docket volume.
In the running for the judge position are Angelique Camfield, Christine Morse and Mariko Willis.
Camfield is a managing attorney at a family and criminal law practice. She has more than 27 years experience in the courtroom, including 15 years working for prosecutor’s offices in Kalamazoo, Allegan and Calhoun counties.
Morse is the current state representative for Michigan’s 40th District. A licensed attorney since 1999, her experience includes interning for the St. Clair County and Berrien County prosecutor’s offices in district and probate courts, as well as for the Honorable Gerald R. Rosen of the Eastern District of Michigan.
Willis is the owner of and an attorney at Fidelis Counselor at Law. She also gives legal counsel at Willis Law and is chief operating officer of the Willis Foundation.
The top two vote-getters will earn a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot, where they will face off for an eight-year term. This nonpartisan race will be on ballots for everybody, regardless of if they’re voting in the Democratic or Republican primary.
Incumbent Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf has earned national recognition in the past five years for bucking pandemic lockdown mandates, his connection to men accused (and acquitted) of planning to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and for his investigations into alleged voter fraud.
He faces three Republican challengers for the role on Tuesday, Aug. 6: farmer and truck driver Joel Ibbotson; Mark Noteboom, a 42-year-old deputy brought into the department to investigate voter fraud; and Sgt. Richelle Spencer, a K-9 handler for the Barry County Sheriff’s Office.
The top vote-getter will run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot, barring any write-in candidate campaigns.
Five candidates are vying to become the next St. Joseph County sheriff, replacing embattled current Sheriff Mark Lillywhite, who decided not to run for reelection.
Republican candidates Dennis Allen, Undersheriff Jason Bingaman, Joe Bingaman (a cousin to Jason), Gordon Evilsizor and Chad Spence are running for the office.
Lillywhite is not seeking reelection after serving one four-year term. He pleaded guilty to drunk driving after a crash in 2023. Following the incident, St. Joseph County Commissioners voted to ask Whitmer to remove Lillywhite from office, but she has not made a decision in the request yet.
The winner of the Aug. 6 primary will run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot, barring a write-in campaign.
Incumbent supervisor and longtime Kalamazoo Township official Don Martin faces a new Democratic challenger on the Tuesday, Aug. 6 ballot.
Newcomer David Combs, 32, is calling for increased transparency in the township government. He currently serves on the Kalamazoo Township Zoning Board of Appeals, County Board of Public Works and acts as a county representative to the Regional Planning Council.
Martin, 81, was first elected to the township’s board in 2008. He was appointed to the role of supervisor in 2018, and ran unopposed to stay in the position in 2020.
The township has seen it’s share of drama since then. It fired Township Manager Dexter Mitchell for illegally recording a closed-session meeting. He recently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty after initially being charged with felony eavesdropping.
The winner of the Aug. 6 primary will run unopposed in the Nov. 5 general election, barring any write-in candidates.
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