Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
City of Montreal Councilmember Maleah Cummings, right, fills out paperwork before casting her vote in the Iron County 2022 general elections at the Montreal City Hall on Tuesday. Poll worker Barbara Valle sits behind the table.
By ZACHARY MARANO
The winners of the Iron County 2022 general election were announced on Tuesday evening following voting earlier in the day. The election determined who will serve as county supervisors for the next two years, in addition to members of the Hurley and Montreal city councils, and the Hurley and Mercer school boards.
The only contested position for a county board seat was in District 12, where voters had to choose between incumbent Opal Roberts and Hank Joustra, both of Mercer. Roberts held her seat with 83 votes while Joustra received 49 votes.
The position of county supervisor for District 6 was write-in only because Ken Saari opted against running for re-election and no one filed the necessary paperwork to appear on the ballot before the January deadline. However, Saari received the most write-in votes - a total of seven.
The Iron County clerk Michael Saari said he plans to give Saari some time to consider his options before contacting him to see if he wants to serve another two-year term as county supervisor. If he chooses not to accept the position, the clerk said that the board would appoint someone else, perhaps the candidate with the second most write-in votes, who was Steve Fiene, at three votes.
The other county supervisor positions were uncontested. Josiah Hewitt of District 1 received 48 votes; Joseph Pinardi of District 2, 39 votes; Jamey Francis of District 3, 31 votes; Larry Youngs of District 4, 35 votes; William Thomas of District 5, 51 votes; Brandon Snyder of District 7, 46 votes; Karl Krall of District 8, 45 votes; Patrick Hanson of District 9, 60 votes; Scott Erickson of District 10, 67 votes; John Sendra of District 11, 120 votes; Thomas Thompson Jr. of District 13, 71 votes; Tanner Hiller of District 14, 50 votes; and Anne McComas of District 15, 41 votes.
Joanne Bruneau was elected mayor in Hurley. The longtime city council member ran unopposed and received 161 votes. Mayor Jay "Budgey" Aijala did not seek re-election.
Six candidates ran for six seats on the Hurley City Council. Incumbents Stephanie Innes-Smith, Jamey Francis, Robert Lanctoe and Thomas Conhartoski received 130, 112, 136 and 136 votes respectively, while newcomers Joseph Pinardi and Rita Franzoi received 99 and 96 votes.
In Montreal, Mayor Kelly Traczyk ran unopposed for re-election. She totaled 87 votes. Council members Steve Feine and William Thomas were also re-elected running unopposed. Feine earned 33 votes in Ward 1, and Thomas had 45 votes in Ward 2.
Hurley School Board President Leslie Kolesar and board member Andrew Laurin were the only two people running for two open seats on the school board. They received 404 and 378 votes respectively.
Five candidates ran for three open seats on the Mercer School Board. James Hanneman received the most votes at 291 followed by Eric Behnke at 289 votes, Zach Wilson at 262 votes, Steve Botes at 242 votes and Tanner Hiller at 156 votes. Hanneman and Behnke won three-year terms, while Wilson won a one-year term to fill out a vacancy.
In Mercer, town board members Michael Lambert and Vic Ouimette ran unopposed and retained their seats, receiving 345 and 311 votes, respectively.
According to a notice from the Iron County clerk's office, the Iron County board of canvass will perform the canvass of the election beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday at the courthouse.
