Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
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Genesee County register of deeds primary election turns into wild election
by Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal
Saturday July 05, 2008, 1:00 PM
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Two county commissioners, the president of the local branch of the NAACP, a barber and General Motors retiree.
And that's not the half of it.
Democrats have a full dozen candidates to pick from county register of deeds election, which usually is a sleepy race but has turned into a brawl for a low-profile office with high pay, good fringe benefits and excellent job security.
Flint Journal extras
One office, lots of choices:
Here are the candidates for Genesee County register of deeds in the Aug. 5 primary election:
• Democrats: Rose Bogardus, Norm Bryant, Tina Conley, Michael L. Curtis,
Ryan Eashoo
, Frances L. Gilcreast,
Ted Jankowski Jr
., Diana Kelly, David I. Lemere, Larry Mitchell, Raynetta P. Speed, Richard Wagonlander
• Republicans: William W. Kovl, Fredrick Wilson
It has become the county's wildest race leading up to the Aug. 5 primary election in which voters will chose candidates in a slew of races from state, county and local government.
The difference this year in the register of deeds office: Incumbent Melvin McCree is retiring, creating an opening that might not come again for decades.
Even Republicans -- who struggle to recruit candidates for most countywide offices and
haven't won one since 1950
-- have a pair to pick from in the primary.
"I wonder where they all were four years ago?'' said David I. Lemere, who challenged McCree in 2004 and is back in the suddenly crowded race this year. "I'm up against some pretty big opponents (this time). It's a different game."
The crowded field makes handicapping the election a challenge because no one can be sure how votes will be split up and how many it will take to win with multiple black, women, established and unknown candidates all fighting for the same voters.
"You got nine whites and four blacks," on the Democratic side. "It's gonna be split," said Norm Bryant, a former Flint Board of Education member who has partly owned a Flint barber shop for about two decades.
"You got to be a politician to win it," Bryant said. "I've got to solidify the city."
There will be limits to how much any one candidate can solidify voters when several candidates would seem to have strong followings.
Among the field:
• County Commissioners Raynetta P. Speed, D-Flint, and Rose Bogardus, D-Davison, are routinely in the news because of they already have roles in county government.
Bogardus is a former state representative, and Speed has the endorsement of the UAW.
• Tina Conley, a Burton city councilwoman, and Republican William Koval, a Clio city commissioner.
• Frances Gilcreast, president of the Flint branch of the NAACP, and Larry Mitchell, former deputy clerk in the Oakland County register of deeds office.
• Lemere, who reeled in more than 17,500 votes in the 2004 primary election against McCree.
"I'm glad there's so many," Conley said. "It's going to spread (the vote) out and the one who gets out there and works hardest will get it. It's going to be spread 12 ways."
Conley, the city of Flint's senior coordinator, raised eyebrows recently when her campaign signs turned up at Patsy Lou Williamson car dealerships -- a sign of potential deep pockets for her.
Bogardus, a former state representative, is as close as it gets to being a favorite in the race, several candidates have said.
Before rejoining the county Board of Commissioners, Bogardus was a state representative, has already been campaigning in local parades and has a reputation for hustling for votes.
On the Republican side, candidate Fredrick Wilson, 58, a political novice, sees the retirement of McCree as a golden opportunity for Republicans.
"I was going to be the sacrificial lamb (then) the story of (McCree's health problems) hit and it was like --Â wow, we might actually have a shot at this," Wilson said.
McCree has been in and out of county Probate Court this year because health problems have made it difficult for him to manage his own affairs.
Wilson is one of several candidates campaigning on the promise to eliminate or seriously study merging the register of deeds and clerk's offices.
There are few other nagging issues in an office with a primary task of recording legal papers such as deeds and mortgages.
County Clerk Michael Carr said with such a crowded field, the winning Democrat can take the nomination with 5,000 to 10,000 votes.
There are 339,811 registered voters in the county, and turnout was less than 15 percent four years ago.
"That's kind of what I'm hoping," said Ted Jankowski, a long shot who acknowledges he doesn't have great name recognition.
The former Marine said he hopes voters have tired of some of the more recognized candidates.
"From the people I've talked to, most are tired of the same people moving around in government positions," Jankowski wrote in an e-mail. |
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