By WKTV Staff
Kentwood City Clerk Dan Kasunic was spot on with his prediction of 50 percent voter turnout for the Nov. 6 general election.
All across the state, there was record turnout at the polls with the state indicating that the numbers could break previous records set in the early 1980s. The City of Kentwood had a 57.2 percent voter turnout with 20,509 of the 35,865 registered voters casting their vote in the mid-term elections. The City of Wyoming has a 53.5 percent turnout with 26,961 of its registered 50,378 voters coming to the polls.
The Democrats swept away the state’s top three spots, Governor, state Attorney General, and Secretary of State. Both incumbent Bill Huizenga (R), for the 2nd District of the U.S. House of Representatives, and incumbent Justin Amash (R), for the 3rd District of the U.S. House of Representatives, were able to retain their seats by narrow margins. For complete statewide results, click here.
Here is the outcome of the local races:
City of Wyoming
The only contested race for the City of Wyoming was the 1st Ward seat with incumbent Sheldon DeKryger and challenger Pete Ricketson both vying for the seat. The race was fairly close with DeKryger only having a 300-vote lead for most of the night. A 2 a.m., DeKryger said he got a text stating he had retained his seat with almost a 500-vote lead over Ricketson. The vote count was 3,220 to 2,709.
“I’m really excited that the residents spoke out in my favor,” DeKryger said in a Wednesday morning phone interview. “I am looking forward to representing the people and being their voice on the city council.”
DeKryger, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year after longtime Councilor Bill Ver Hurst stepped down due to health concerns, said he enjoyed getting out and talking to residents, discussing all that is happening within the city.
“It is a exciting time for the City of Wyoming,” DeKryger said. “There is a lot of great things going on in our city.”
The rest of the candidates, Mayor Jack Poll, and Councilors-at-large Kent Vanderwood and Sam Bolt, ran unopposed.
Kent County Board of Commission
With the announcement that incumbent Harold Mast would not seek re-election, there were a lot of people who threw their hat into the ring for the District 12 seat, which covers a portion of the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming. Early in the evening, with only 15 percent of the county election results having been reported, Democrat Monica Sparks was leading by more than 1,100 votes over Republican candidate Jill Martinez. Sparks hung on to that lead the rest of the night beating out Martinez 5,393 to 4,171.
“It feels amazing,” Sparks said last night as she celebrated with supporters. “What pulled me through was my faith, my family and my friends.
“I just felt it was the right thing for me to do. It is a right time and for the right reasons. It is just meant to be.”
In the rest of the Kent County Commission races, the incumbents defeated any challengers. According to the Kent County election results:
District 7
Incumbent Stan Ponstein (R) 6,439
Challenger Mike Johnson (D) 5,072
District 8
Incumbent Harold Voorhees (R) 9,199
District 9
Incumbent Matt Kallman (R) 9,725
Challenger Bob Smith (D) 5,037
District 10
Incumbent Emily Brieve (R) 10,801
District 12
Challenger Monica Sparks (D) 5,393
Challenger Jill Martinez (R) 4,171
Challenger Charolette Aikens (Green) 312
District 13
Incumbent Betsy Melton (D) 7,504
Challenger Jessica Ann Tyson (R) 5,817
State Senate
A Republican incumbent and a Republican with a history of state government service will be representing Wyoming and Kentwood in Lansing next year. In the 26th District of the State Senate, which includes the City of Kentwood along with all of Allegan and Van Buren counties, Republican Aric, who has been a state representative and served in Gov. Rick Snyder’s cabinet, will replace term-limited Republican Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker. In the 8th District of the State Senate, which includes the City of Wyoming as well as the cities of Walker, Rockford and Cedar Springs, Republican incumbent Peter MacGregor finished with a strong lead over his challengers.
The results are:
26th District
Challenger Aric Nesbitt (R) 61,509
Challenger Garrett Lewis (D) 43,293
Erwin Haas (L) 2,374
Robert M. Alway (Green) 1,153
28th District
Incumbent Peter MacGregor (R) 68,744
Challenger Craig Beach (R) 45,937
Challenger Nathan Hewer (L) 3,059
State House of Representative
Both incumbents for the 72nd District, which covers a portion of the City of Kentwood, Cutlerville, and parts of Allegan County, and the 77th District, which covers a portion of Wyoming, Byron Center, and Cutlerville, retained their seats. The results are:
72nd District
Incumbent Steve Johnson (R) 21,373
Challenger Ron Draayer (D) 17,271
Challenger Jamie Lewis (L) 1,184
77th District
Incumbent Tommy Brann (R) 22,514
Challenger Dana Knight (D) 13,820
Patty Malowney (L) 866
Brandon Hoezee (US Taxpayers) 398
