Trending
Markkonen, Preston win
HOUGHTON --In the State House and Senate races Tuesday night, Republicans once again won state legislative seats to represent the Copper Country in Lansing.
The 38th State Senate District saw Republican David Prestin beat Democrat Kelli Van Ginhoven and Independent Sara Cambensy. Prestin received 52% of the vote. Van Ginhoven received 39% and Cambensy 9%.
In Houghton County, 8,484 ballots were cast for Prestin, 6,741 for Van Ginhoven and 936 for Cambensy. Prestin also received the most votes in Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon Counties.
Prestin served as the 108th State House District Representative before winning a State Senate seat, formally occupied by Republican Ed McBroom.
Representative Gregory Markkanen won re-election in the 110th State House District, beating Houghton City Councilor Brian Irizarry with 59% of the vote.
Markkanen won his home turf of Houghton County with 9,009 votes while Irizarry received 7,072 votes. Markkanen also received more votes than his challenger in Keweenaw and Ontonagon Counties.
Following a blowout in the U.S. House, Senate and Gubernatorial races, the Michigan State House and Senate also had gains for Democrats. At press time, Democrats are expected to control both chambers of the state legislature -- as well as the Governorship.
Local school boards
In the midst of federal and state elections, school boards across Houghton County elected members to vacant positions. School board races in Houghton County included a tight race for the Houghton-Portage Township School Board. Most others ran unopposed.
For the two-year board positions, Julie Cischke and Melissa Vertin ran unopposed. Five candidates ran for three six-year. Kellie Raffaelli (1,723), Amanda Massaway (1,379) and Jason Evans (954) were elected. Also on the ballot were Justin LaCosse (953), who finished just one vote behind Evans and Stephen Morse (867).
Other school board winners are:
Justin Marier, Eric Mattila, Ashley Wisniewski-Sudderth -- Adams Township
Sherri Goodreau, Michael Lahti, Carmen Larson, Sue Wilson -- Baraga Area
Phil Halonen, Jason Wickstrom, Daniel Zubiena -- Calumet
Samantha Elenich, Heather Murphy, Carl Olson -- Chassell
Steven Joseph LeClaire, Stacey Lassila, Nicholas Stevens -- Dollar Bay-Tamarack City
Charlie Klein, Michael Lancour, Michael Niileksela, Robert Jeannotte -- Hancock
Stacey Davis, Nathan Grave, Kristy Toth -- L'Anse Area
David Anderson, Courtney Holzberger -- Lake Linden-Hubbell
Paul Marttila, David Rautiola -- Stanton Township
Council results
City and village council seats decided Tuesday. While three incumbents and one newcomer were elected in the city of Houghton, voters in Hancock elected three new city councilors. Houghton Mayor Robert Megowen and incumbents Rhiannon Schmidt and Mike Needham were re-elected and Matt Siegel, the director of the Michigan Tech Writing Center won the fourth seat. Chad Arney was also on the ballot.
In Hancock, Sara Lahti, Ruth Gill, Jeffrey Thornton and Mandy Lounibos won out of the eight candidates running for city council. Lounibos was the only city councilor officially running for reelection, as former Mayor Protem Whitney Warstler dropped out two weeks before the election.
Businesswoman Sara Lahti received 995 votes. Gill, who has been advocating for the Hancock Area District Library, won 740 votes. Superior National Bank Trust Officer Jefferey Thornton received 642 votes. Councilor Mandy Lounibos had 606 ballots cast for her.
The other candidates, Jennifer Ormsbee, Ryan Tanner, Joseph Rushlau and Warstler -- all received under 600 votes each.
In Calumet, David Geisler won a partial, two-year term in the village council race. Shannon Perkins, Melissa Rebman and Kelly Ryan ran unopposed for three four-year seats.
Other village council and municipal office seats include:
Reid Rastello -- Copper City President
Lesley Koski -- Copper City Trustee
Glenn Schuldt -- Lake Linden President
Deanne LaCasse, Shanda Miller, Donald Moyle -- Lake Linden Trustee
Krista Carlson, John Galbraith, Ian Raymond -- Laurium Trustee
Mike Balma, Justin Marier -- South Range Trustee