DELTA COUNTY, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Election Day, voters in two Delta County communities decided on the future of the County Board of Commissioners.
The District 4 incumbent, Democrat Kelli Van Ginhoven, received about 56% of the vote over Republican David Moyle. Moyle and Van Ginhoven have faced each other at the polls several times, with Van Ginhoven unseating the former commissioner in May’s recall election.
“I’m very pleased with the results,” said Van Ginhoven. “I was even happier when I saw the voter turnout so high in Delta County, which is something we’ve been striving for. I think District 4 saw the work that I was putting in and the dedication that I had, first to the city boards I was on and now the County Board. I’d like to thank everybody who came out to the polls; it’s the cornerstone of our democracy.”
Although she says she will miss the outgoing members of the Board of Commissioners, Van Ginhoven says she is looking forward to continuing her work with the new board.
“I think that we’ve done a lot of work over the last six months that we can be proud of,” she said. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to move forward and become a really great collaborative and cohesive unit at our County Board and then start reaching out to our municipalities again to help build Delta County and the Upper Peninsula.”
In District 3, no-party Commissioner Myra Croasdell lost with 27% of the vote to Christine Williams, a Republican who formerly served on the Escanaba Planning Commission.
“I didn’t know what the results were going to be and once they started to come in, I just got really excited,” Williams said. “I’m still sort of on cloud nine at this point.”
Williams says she will bring administrative expertise to the board that could help county programs become more efficient and cost-effective. She has also worked with most of the commissioners in various community roles, so she believes she will be able to work well with them.
“One of the things that I have done in my career is understanding processes,” said Williams. “It’s really diving into how a process works and what are all the steps within that process, and then evaluating what you find to determine ways a process can be modified or changed. That’s something that I’m super excited about being able to provide to the county. I’m excited to be working with everyone. I think each individual person brings a unique set of skills, and I’m just really excited to see what we can do for the county.”
Williams will be one of two changes to the County Board lineup, with former commissioner Patrick Johnson unseating current District 2 Commissioner Steven Viau in the Republican primary.
For full U.P. general election results, click here.
