KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — With all the precincts reporting, Julie Rogers is taking home the win for the District 60 Michigan House race.
Although the city of Kalamazoo’s 21,000 absentee ballots have not yet been counted as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Rogers thanked voters for the honor around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Through in-person voting, Rogers received 8,863 votes or about 63% with her republican challenger Gary Mitchell getting 5,272 votes or 37%. Absentee ballots pulled her even more ahead with 13,820 votes compared to Mitchell’s 6,740.
https://twitter.com/MI_Dems/status/1323868575472472064?s=20
In an interview with Rogers she praised Kalamazoo County voters for the record breaking turnout. “I’m thrilled with the voter participation rate and just want to make sure every vote is counted, but I am so happy with the level of engagement in Kalamazoo County,” Rogers stated.
The latest election results can be found here.
Results are not final until they are certified by the Board of Canvassers.
– ORIGINAL STORY –
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — During the November 3 General Election, three candidates are opting for Michigan House District 60 seat, which encompasses the city of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Township, and some parts of Portage.
All three candidates will be aiming to fill the seat left behind by State Representative Jon Hoadley, who is racing against Congressman Fred Upton for the 60th District State Representative seat.
Kalamazoo County Commissioner Julie M. Rogers (Democrat) is the current representative for District 5 in Kalamazoo County. Rogers previously served as the Board Chair for Kalamazoo County, recently stepping down in July, and is now serving her fourth term on the board as a commissioner. She also works as a physical therapist at Ascension Borgess.
According to her official website, Rogers’ areas of focus include healthcare reform, environmental protection, criminal justice reform and more.
Gary Mitchell is the only Republican candidate on the ballot for this position. His background includes work with General Motors, as well as work with Dow Chemical in Midland.
Since his retirement in 2011, the Detroit-born candidate has worked as a realtor in the Kalamazoo area for the last four years.
According to his official campaign website, his areas of focus include fixing the budget in Michigan without raising taxes, fixing state roads without raising taxes, and improving Michigan schools. His website adds that he would teach American history and government as a way to do so.
Additionally, Kalamazoo County Commissioner Stephanie Moore (Democrat), who currently represents District 1 in Kalamazoo County, is running as a write-in candidate for the 60th District Representative. She also served on the Kalamazoo City Commission from 2007 to 2014.
Moore was defeated by Rogers with 503 votes in the August Primary Election.
Afterwards, she was considering a recount, but on August 13th conceded to Rogers and released a statement saying, “I congratulate and applaud every person who was a part of Moore-2020. It is with bittersweet feelings that I end my campaign for State Representative, 60th District primary election.”
She later announced her candidacy as a write-in candidate last month.
Some of her work with the County Commission includes authoring a proclamation declaring racism a public health crisis, which was later adopted by the board.
More information can be found at her official Facebook page.
— WKZO will update this article as results from the election develop. —
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