There were special elections in Michigan yesterday. We have some results, while others weren’t in yet by deadline.
About 25% of those registered cast votes in Cass County, a fairly typical turnout in a year without federal, state or county offices on the ballot.
There were some city races. Dowagiac will have its first new mayor in 28 years, after 47-year-old barber Patrick Bakeman stopped 79-year-old businessman Don Lyons from winning an eighth term.
Most of the ballot items concerned schools seeking approval to levy property taxes.
By just a seven-vote margin, voters rejected Dowagiac schools’ property tax renewal request. But in the city of St. Joseph, they approved St. Joseph schools’ request to borrow about $60 million for building and maintenance upgrades. Voters had rejected the district’s request to borrow last year but school officials this time brought back a leaner proposal that won’t raise property taxes.
The results weren’t yet in on the highest-profile ballot item of the night, marijuana sales in Niles Township.
