ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – While the August 6 primary election set the stage for the general election races in November, some Delta County races have already been decided.
Delta County District 1 and District 2 had no one running in the Democratic primary. In District 1, Commissioner John Malnar secured the win over fellow Republican Sandra Skiba, with Malnar leading by about 10%.
“A lot of people knew I was doing the right thing for the county,” Malnar said. “In the meetings since being chair and the new board, everything’s been calm—you might say ‘boring,’—but we don’t have a lot of disagreements and arguments like we used to. I feel good about it.”
Malnar says he wants residents of his district to know that he is available to discuss county issues that are important to them.
“If you have anything that you ever want to talk about, you can always give me a call at (906) 399-8001,” he said. “Thank you to District 1 for reelecting me.”
Now in his second year on the board, District 2 Commissioner Steven Viau lost in the primary to chiropractor Patrick Johnson, who previously served as a commissioner for eight years. Johnson garnered 56% of the vote.
“One of the main reasons I ran was because I do bring an element of history,” he said. “John Malnar and I are the oldest serving members on the board, so whenever a decision is made, we can look back at the history of why that decision was made and try to make a little bit better decision in the future.”
Johnson says he is eager to get back on the Board of Commissioners.
“The job doesn’t start until January, but we start working today,” he said. “I’ve always paid attention to what was going on in the county, so I’ll continue to pay attention, continue to give some feedback, and look forward to starting in January.”
In District 3, current no-party commissioner Myra Croasdell will face Republican primary winner Christine Williams. A former Escanaba Planning Commission member, Williams earned about 62% of the vote to defeat Bob Barron, who Croasdell unseated in the May recall election.
“Bob and I just have very different leadership styles,” said Williams. “I think we both came into this race with equal experience. We both have name recognition in our communities, but I think that our community just was really looking for a leader who is going to build community.”
Williams says she is grateful to the voters who chose her to be the District 3 Republican candidate in the general election.
“I’m so thankful that they are trusting me to lead this charge forward, and I’m really looking forward to November,” she said.
District 4 Commissioner Kelli Van Ginhoven defeated fellow Democrat Jason Sacco by a wide margin, with Van Ginhoven garnering 88.89% of the vote.
“I think that the results showed that our county is wanting to move forward,” Van Ginhoven said. “With how we’ve been working as a board and its functionality is proving to the public that they made the right choice with us in the recall, and people don’t want to go back.”
In November, Van Ginhoven was set to face former Republican commissioner David Moyle, who she unseated in the recall. However, Moyle announced the indefinite suspension of his campaign in a Facebook post the day after the primary. Right now, Van Ginhoven says she is focused on serving the remainder of her current term and addressing issues that voters care about.
“I’d just like to say ‘thank you’ to my campaign team and to the people who came out and voted,” she said. “I could tell that they were very passionate about wanting to vote and that made me feel good inside. I’ll just continue working really hard as a commissioner to prove that they made the right choice.”
In the District 5 Republican primary, Commissioner Matt Jensen once again faced the former commissioner he unseated in the recall, Robert Petersen. With 65% of the vote and no Democratic challenger, Jensen has secured his seat for another term.
“I’m very involved in our community with a lot of volunteer organizations,” he said. “I’ve always believed I’m promoting our community, and we need to make our home here a destination for others to stop and see what a wonderful place it is and help our economic growth.”
Jensen says since May, the Board of Commissioners has worked to make positive changes at the Delta County Airport, enhance local parks, and improve commission meetings.
“They’re a lot more light,” said Jensen. “You’ll occasionally hear a little laughter, even, in the audience. People don’t feel that they’re missing stuff that’s being done behind the scenes. We are making every effort to make sure that every piece of information we have is available to the public. Our board flows really well with what we currently have, so I expect that to be able to continue in the future.”
For a full list of election results throughout the U.P., click here.
