By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
Even though election results are still being counted in Kent County, there are not much in the way of surprises in the county’s unofficial results.
About 60.5 percent of the county’s total registered voters voted in this year’s 2020 election. About 85 percent of the 303,039 total votes have been counted as of late this morning.
Even with 15 percent left to count, in many of the county races, the leaders have maintained large point leads.
This was the case for Republican Incumbent Michelle LaJoye-Young for Kent County Sheriff. Throughout the night, LaJoye-Young maintained a lead over Democratic challenger Marc Burns and Liberation candidate John Glen Stedman. Today, she was still 60,000 votes ahead of Burns, her closet challenger. Republican incumbent Lisa Posthumus Lyons for Kent County Clerk also maintained a lead over challengers Devin Ortega (D) and Jamie Lewis (L) and so did Republican incumbent Ken Yonkers for Kent County Drain Commissioner who stayed ahead of challengers Elaine Isely (D) and Alex Avery (L). With 85 percent of the votes counted, these candidate seem to continue to keep that lead. Republican incumbent Chris Becker was the only person seeking the Kent County Prosecuting Attorney position.
With the announcement that current Kent County Treasurer Keith Parrish would not seek re-election, two newcomers, Peter MacGregor (R) and Beth White (D) put their hats in the ring for the position. For most of the night, MacGregor held a solid lead with morning numbers showing he was about 42,000 votes ahead.
The cities of Kentwood and Wyoming and surrounding communities of the City of Grandville, and the townships of Byron Center and Gaines have 100 percent fully reported which means commissioner races for those communities have unofficial results.
For county commission seats, the following incumbents retained their seats: Stan Ponstein for the 7th District, Matt Kallman for the 9th District, Emily Post Brieve for the 10th District and Monic Sparks for the 12th District. Both the 7th and 9th districts have portions of the City of Wyoming and the 10th District has a portion of the City of Kentwood. The 12th District is divided between the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood.
“Words can not express my gratitude to the voters of District 7,” said Commissioner Stan Ponstein in a Facebook post. “Whether you voted for me when I was first elected to the Grandville Board of Education at the age of 19, supported me over the years, or this is your first time voting for me. I want you to know I take public service seriously, I will never forget who I serve and have always believed that where you live should not dictate the level of service you recieve from government.”
In the 8th District, which covers the eastern portion of the city of Wyoming, including the pan handle, Republican candidate Dan Burrill, who is currently on the Wyoming City Council, maintained a steady lead against Democratic candidate Sarah Chatterley. When counting was done, Burrill had 9,165 votes to Chatterley’s 7,765.
“It feels like I have been running for forever since I have been campaigning from about March through the primaries to November,” Burrill said, adding that he was appreciative for the help of the Kent County GOP, Kent Vanderwood and Rusty Richter.
While sad about leaving the Wyoming City Council, Burrill said he is looking forward to being apart of the Kent County Commission.
“I am ready for another chapter to lean about how the county operates and to represent the citizens of Wyoming at the county level,” he said.
In the 13th District, which covers the eastern portion of the City of Kentwood, Democratic candidate Michelle McCloud was able to push past Republican candidate Levi Cipcic by more than 4,000 votes.
The Kent County Board of Canvassers will review the general election on Nov. 17 with the state board of canvassers reviewing the statewide election on Nov. 23.
