KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — It was a good night for Democrats, especially locally.
-MCCANN BEATS O’BRIEN-
One of the races Kalamazoo democrats wanted the most was to unseat incumbent State Senator Margaret O’Brien, and it appears that Sean McCann has done that by a wider than expected margin. McCann says they won it because they worked harder.
O’Brien says she was disappointed the race turned so negative, admitting she had to stop watching TV.
-UPTON BEATS LONGJOHN-
It appears that Democrats have seized control of the U.S. House of Representatives, but St. Joseph Republican Fred Upton has survived the purge and has retained his seat by a narrower margin this time over Democrat Matt Longjohn.
When Upton returns to Washington next year, he will be in the minority party, and so will Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, as the GOP has retained the majority in the upper chamber.
-MORE LOCAL STATE HOUSE RACES: HOADLEY, HALL, IDEN, HAADSMA WIN-
Some new and old faces in local State House races
Democrat Jon Hoadley will retain his seat, representing the Kalamazoo urban area.
Republican Matt Hall has won the district held by David Maturen, which includes rural townships in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties
It appears that Brandt Iden has retained his seat in the 61st district, but Jim Haadsma has flipped the 62nd district which includes Battle Creek and northern Calhoun County from red to blue.
Democrats will greatly increase their minority in the Michigan State House, but Republicans will retain the Majority by 2 to 4 seats depending on the official results for these local races.
-KALAMAZOO COUNTY BOARD-
Democrats will retain their majority on the Kalamazoo County Board, and have a larger majority with Democrat Meredith Place unseating incumbent Republican Scott McGraw who also serves as the County’s Republican Party Chair.
Most democratic and republican incumbents will return, except Republican board vice chair Dale Sugars who lost to Democrat Christine Morse in a close call-race for the 9th District.
-STATEWIDE BALLOT PROPOSALS-
As predicted, all 3 ballot proposals, recreational marijuana, the anti-jerrymandering commission, and the voter reforms have all passed by wide margins.
Proposal 3, the election changes, was the biggest winner with 67-percent voting yes and 33-percent no.
Some provisions of the new marijuana law may go into effect immediately, but it does give the state two years to figure out how to regulate sales from dispensaries.
-FULL ELECTION RESULTS-
A running list of the Kalamazoo County election results can be found on the Kalamazoo County Government’s website.
