Traverse City Record-Eagle

Election 2012

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May 1, 2012

Few new candidates for Grand Traverse County's redrawn districts

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Commission's seven newly drawn districts attracted few new candidates so far.

The filing deadline for partisan candidates is May 15. The posts pay $7,000 a year with benefits.

Presently, only Republican Christine Maxbauer faces a challenger to represent Traverse City's western half and precincts 3 and 4 in Garfield Township. Democrat Dave Fredrickson also seeks that seat.

"Apparently I'm the controversial one," Maxbauer joked.

Incumbent Ross Richardson's new district took a Republican tilt when Peninsula Township was added to the eastern half of Traverse City to create District 1. But Richardson, the board's lone Democrat, doesn't have a challenger yet.

"I've gotten calls, and people ask me, ... but there are no Republicans willing to step up and run against Ross right now," Maxbauer said.

The redrawing from nine districts to seven threw sitting commissioners Larry Inman and Jason Gillman into the same district, representing Acme and Whitewater townships and the two northern precincts of East Bay Township.

Gillman initially planned to run against Inman but decided instead to challenge state Rep. Wayne Schmidt in the August Republican primary for the 104th House representing Grand Traverse County.

"I feel very strongly about making Michigan a 'Right to Work' state and I don't believe my current state representative shares that same urgency," Gillman said.

The new districts also put Larry Fleis and Dick Thomas into the new District 5, which includes Grant and Mayfield townships, most of Blair Township and the eastern half of Green Lake Township. Fleis said he won't run against Thomas, who intends to make this his last term.

Republican candidate Andrew Marek, of Interlochen, recently withdrew from the race.

"I attended a ton of board meetings, and I realized that Dick Thomas is voting pretty much the same way I would," said Marek, who intends to run for Green Lake Township supervisor.

So far, Commissioner Addison Wheelock Jr. is unopposed in District 4 which includes Long Lake Township and the western half of Green Lake Township. Commissioner Herb Lemcool has District 3 to himself representing most of Garfield Township and the Grawn area of Blair. Commissioner Rob Hentschel has no challengers in District 7, which includes Paradise, Fife Lake and Union townships and the southern two thirds of East Bay Township.

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