Hey people! So here’s a quick rundown of what just went down in Wayne County’s elections. In the polls, held this Tuesday, the majority of voters placed their bets once again on the current Democratic officials. Simultaneously, they gave thumbs-up to two propositions on the ballot.
The first proposal focuses on renewing the property tax, or the millage as some call it, which plays a significant role in financing our public parks. The second proposal gives a makeover to how financial auditing firms are chosen in our county.
Wayne County, home to roughly 1.74 million folks, saw the return of County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to the helm. With zero competition in the Democratic race, she’s lined up to continue her tenure that began in 2004. As for the clash for Wayne County sheriff, current sheriff Raphael Washington, leading the Democratic race, triumphed over his competitor Joan Merriwether by a comfy margin.
Washington is now set to face off with Republican candidate T.P. Nykoriak in the November general election. In the Republican nomination battle, Nykoriak topped Patricia Bomar to secure his shot at becoming Sheriff.
Meanwhile, Clerk Cathy Garrett won many hearts in the Democratic primary, beating her competitor Hadi Tarraf with a noticeable difference in the number of votes. With no contender from the Republicans this time, Garrett is all set to hold on to her post in November.
Our County Treasurer Eric Sabree also got a big nod from Democratic voters to continue serving us. Sabree saw no opposition in the Democratic race, and nope, there’s no Republican candidate to challenge him in November’s election either.
For the registrar of deeds role, Bernard Youngblood is on the ticket for November’s general election after seeing favor in the uncontested Democratic race. Youngblood’s competition will be the Republican candidate Afaf Ahmed, who garnered her place in the race after running unopposed in the Republican primaries.
Talking about townships, all county commission reps, including Dearborn’s Commissioner Sam Baydoun, got a renewal nod from voters cutting across all 43 cities and townships of the county.
Now, about those propositions on the ballot, over 181,000 voters (that’s 74.4 percent folks) gave a green signal to the proposal to renew property tax for an additional five years from 2026 to 2030, directing the funds towards our public parks. Also, a majority of voters approved a change in how financial auditing firms are chosen, suggesting shorter contract periods and a competitive bidding process.
In other counties like Macomb and Oakland, Tuesday’s elections didn’t spring any surprises, with all incumbent executive officials clinching their primary races.
