Archive: News

Ed LaVigne (R) defeated Kathy Miller (D) 1,231 to 1082 Tuesday to become Lansing's next Supervisor when Miller's term ends at the end of this year.  LaVigne won the position in a hotly contested campaign after defeating Chris Williams (R) in the primary election.  Even though Katrina Binkewicz (D) and Andra Benson (D) won the two Town Council seats, the Republicans will keep their majority on the Board next year with LaVigne as Supervisor and sitting Councilmen Robert Cree (R) and Doug Dake (R).  Almost 35% of Lansing's 6,768 registered voters turned out on Tuesday.

Binkewicz got the most votes of candidates for Town Board with 1246.  Benson got the second highest number of votes, at 1187.  They will fill the two open board seats being vacated by LaVigne and Ruth Hopkins (D).  Connie Wilcox (R) received the third highest number of votes at 1140, followed by Rick Hayes (R), who had 1090.  This vote count is the 'unofficial result' reported Tuesday before absentee ballots are counted.

 

	Note: The vote counts for town council reflect Tuesday's vote count plus those absentee ballots.  Amended numbers for Supervisor and the other three positions were not available for this article, however the numbers of absentee ballots are such that they would not affect the outcomes in those races even if one candidate got all the votes.

Town Clerk Debbie Crandall (R) won a new term with 1,811 (99.72%) votes.  There were five write-in votes.  Town Justice John Howell (R) also won a new term, garnering 1,774 (99.6%) of the votes, with seven write-ins.  Deputy Highway Superintendent Charlie Purcell won the top spot as Highway Superintendent, with 1,774 votes (98.03%).  There were 35 write-in votes for that position, almost all for local farmer, Matt Dedrick.

142 absentee ballots were issued in Lansing, but as of yesterday only 103 had been returned.  Candidates and their attorneys were present for the certification and counting of the ballots.  The Board Of Elections managed to get through all but 15 of the absentee ballots yesterday.


In the Supervisor race, LaVigne defeated Miller in North Lansing (Districts 2 and 8), but Miller won in the Village of Lansing (Districts 6 and 7).  LaVigne got more votes in the rest of the Town (Districts 1,3,4 and 5).  In the end LaVigne received 53.22% of the vote to Miller's 46.78%.

Democrats for the two Town Council positions did the best along the northern lake front and in the Village of Lansing.  Republicans took the most votes in North Lansing, where Wilcox in particular has a lot of support.  The totals town-wide were Binkewicz 1,195, Benson 1,133, Wilcox 1,098 and Hayes 1,053.

Candidate meet-and-greet events attracted very little interest this year.  A Republican barbecue in Myers Park attracted few voters, and only four people showed up to meet the Democratic candidates in the Shannon Park neighborhood in the Village of Lansing.

Purcell was challenged by a write-in campaign, but the 35 write-in votes didn't come close to his 98.03% of the votes.

Election day results are considered 'unofficial', though they do determine the winners in all but the closest races.  In order to be counted, absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than November 2, and received by the Board Of Elections by November 10.  Ballots are delivered to the Board Of Elections in bads, which are not opened until an official audit is held.  The ballot audit will be conducted next week, after which the vote becomes official.

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