Low voter turnout in primary; Kelly elected county clerk; Pope elected county surveyor.

LUDINGTON — The 2016 primary in Mason County had low voter turnout. Only 4,714 out of 22,551 registered voters voted.

Cheryl Kelly was elected clerk. Kelly has been the appointed clerk for over a year. She received 2,690 votes while her opponent Mary Alway received 1,014 votes. Both Kelly and Alway ran as Republicans and there is no Democratic challenger, meaning Kelly will run unopposed in the November presidential election.

Two Republicans ran for county surveyor with no Democrat running, meaning the county will likely gain a new surveyor. Rex Pope was elected by 1,607 votes beating incumbent John Schulke who got 1,470 votes.

Dr. Lewis Squires was elected to the County Commission District 4 seat with 437 votes. Jennifer Doggett received 89 votes and Jordan Martz received 104 votes. The position represents Amber Township and northern Pere Marquette Township. Squires has served previously as a county commission, including a tenure as chairman of the county board.

Pere Marquette Township resident Curt VanderWall, Republican candidate for 101st Michigan House of Representatives, won Mason County by 83% of the vote defeating challengers Cary Urka and Mark Walter.

Brandy Henderson and David Buskirk will face off for the Ludington councilor-at-large position during the November election. The two were the top two winners of the race: Henderson received 413 votes while Buskirk received 261. The other two candidates, Wally Cain and Stephen von Pfahl, were eliminated from the race.