County Council Races Return to Delta County Ballots | News, Sports, Work

ESCANABA — The final makeup of the Delta County Board of Commissioners is just days away, and Tuesday’s election will cap nearly two years of political campaigns and board changes.

There are two seats up for grabs on Election Day: the District 3 seat, which represents Escanaba Township, Ford River Township, Bark River Township and part of Escanaba South; and the District 4 seat, which represents Escanaba Precincts 1 and 3.

The District 3 seat is currently held by Myra Croasdell (no party affiliation), who secured the seat in the May 7 special recall election that unseated former Commissioner Bob Barron. Barron ran as a Republican in the August primary with hopes of regaining the seat, but was defeated by Christine Williams, who will run as the Republican challenger for Croasdell on Tuesday.

The District 4 seat is currently held by Kelly van Gingoven (D), who also secured her seat in May when former board chairman Dave Moyle (R) was ousted by recall.

Moyle did not face primary challengers in August but suspended his campaign two days after the August 5 election. Moyle said at the time that he would not accept the seat if elected on November 5, but has since reversed his position.

“I am on the ballot. I’m not running a campaign. If I’m counted, I’ll file, but I don’t spend money and I don’t comment on my opponents,” Moyle told the Daily Press on October 24.

Although District 3 has slightly more residents than District 4, with 7,613 and 7,407 respectively, based on the 2021 redistricting plan, the District 4 race is perhaps the more contested of the two and marks the third time that Moyle and van Ginhoven will clash for the seat.

Van Ginhoven first challenged Moyle in 2022 as an independent candidate but failed to secure a seat. Moyle and his supporters often pointed to the loss as the reason for last May’s recall, a claim strongly disputed by recall organizers, whose recall petitions cited a February 2023 vote by Moyle, Barron and Commissioner Bob Petersen “to fire Administrator Emily.” DeSalvo’s employment contract”.

During the recall process, Moyle said he would fight the recall but not seek re-election. He later changed his position after he and the other the recalled commissioners received death threats, which were later found to have come from a person who was not a resident of Delta County. His official campaign for re-election ended in August, when his campaign was suspended, but advertising supporting his candidacy was paid for by local Republicans.

If elected, Moyle will be the only board member to be recalled in May. Petersen was defeated in the August primary by another Republican, Matt Jensen, who will run unopposed for the 5th District seat on Tuesday.

The primary election also determined who would serve in District 2, the center representing the city of Gladstone and the portion of Escanaba Township east of the Escanaba River. Incumbent Commissioner Steve Vio (R) was also defeated in the primary by Pat Johnson (R), who previously served as board chairman before not seeking re-election in 2020.

Current board chairman John Malnar (R), who represents District 1, will remain on the board. He defeated challenger Sandra Skiba (R) in the August primary and is running unopposed on Tuesday.