Early voting for Michigan's primary election begins Saturday, July 25 leading up to the Aug. 4 election day. There are several contested races on the ballot for White Lake area voters to decide.
The early voting site for all Muskegon County precincts is the county's Marquette campus building at 1903 Marquette Avenue in Muskegon. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 25 and Aug. 1; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 26 and Aug. 2; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 30; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the other weekdays. Election Day voting hours will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at all local precincts.
Local voters will determine the final matchups for a pair of statewide races - governor and U.S. senator - as well as for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Michigan state senate.
One impactful race locally, though, isn't a race at all, but a millage proposal that will be on all ballots in Muskegon County. Muskegon Community College is seeking a restoration of its millage to 2.4 mills, the amount originally approved in perpetuity by county voters in 1993. Over the years, the college's millage rate has fallen to 2.102 mills due to rollbacks required by the Headlee Amendment, which ensures property tax bills do not rise at a rate outpacing inflation. The college is for the first time seeking voter approval to restore the 0.298 mills that have been rolled back.
According to the ballot language, the restoration would provide the college with $2.1 million in funding in its first year if approved and would last for 30 years, through 2055.
MCC hosted town hall style events this summer to share information about the millage request. The college says the additional funding would be used for several upgrades on campus, including heating and cooling systems in some buildings that date to the 1960s. MCC has said that approval would also enable it to pursue classroom improvements, making campus buildings Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, and security upgrades.
There are three millage questions on their respective municipalities' ballots for White Lake area voters, including Reeths-Puffer Schools' operating millage renewal. The district is requesting a 0.5-mill increase to its operations millage, up to 17.5586 mills, to be assessed on non-homestead properties for the next six years, 2027-32. The renewal would enable R-P to collect $3.791 million in 2027, according to ballot language.
Fruitland Township voters will be asked whether to approve a millage to rejoin the White Lake Ambulance Authority. Fruitland was previously in the WLAA before leaving the authority due to its financial troubles at the time, and the township is currently served by Trinity Health EMS. However, the township board approved putting a WLAA reunion on the ballot last December, and all five current municipalities - Montague, Montague Township, White River Township, Whitehall Township and Blue Lake Township - green-lit the potential reunion earlier this year, allowing the vote.
Ballot language said Fruitland's WLAA millage would be a maximum of 1.9 mills and would run from Dec. 1 of this year through Dec. 1, 2030. Currently, WLAA's five participating municipalities pay 1.75 mills apiece, though director Jon Degen has said this year that if Fruitland joins, the increased tax base may allow the authority to lower that number in the future.
Whitehall Township voters will see two millage requests on their ballot. The first would be for up to 1.5 mills for the next 10 years, with funds targeted to road improvements. Ballot language said approval would result in an estimated $138,000 in funding. A second millage request would be for up to two mills for the next 20 years and would be for the township's general operations; it would raise an estimated $184,000 according to ballot language. Supervisor Dennis Kroll said earlier this year that the township has had to dip into reserves the past three years running to balance the budget and that he views this trend as unsustainable, leading to the millage request.
Statewide races for governor, senator and representative will also determine the November matchups for those positions. Each party has a contested primary in the gubernatorial race as candidates vie to replace Gretchen Whitmer, who will hit her term limit at the end of 2026.
Jocelyn Benson, who's been Whitmer's Secretary of State throughout her two terms as governor, is one of two candidates pursuing the Democratic nomination to replace her. Chris Swanson is the other Democratic candidate; Swanson is currently the sheriff of Genesee County, which includes Flint.
On the Republican side, four candidates are on the ballot, but two - Aric Nesbitt and Mike Cox - recently suspended their campaigns. That leaves two pursuing the nomination: John James and Perry Johnson. James is a two-term representative in the U.S. House for the 10th district in Michigan and previously ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat in 2020. Johnson is a businessman, having founded four eponymous companies. He briefly pursued the 2024 Republican nomination for president and spoke at the party's convention that year.
The races for a U.S. Senate and a House of Representatives seat will only be contested by Democrats in the primary. Democrat Gary Peters will not seek re-election in the Senate. Two candidates are vying for a shot at the general election after Mallory McMorrow recently suspended her campaign: Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens is in her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 11th district and currently serves on committees focused on education, labor, science and technology. El-Sayed has a medical background, serving as health officer and executive director of the health department in Detroit from 2015-17 and as Wayne County's health director from 2023-25. He was briefly a Democratic candidate for governor in the 2018 election Whitmer ultimately won.
Republican Mike Rogers, who was defeated by Elissa Slotkin in the 2024 election for Michigan's other Senate seat, is running unopposed on the GOP side.
The battle for the House of Representatives seat will determine which Democrat will face off against incumbent John Moolenaar, who is not being challenged in the Republican primary. Clyde Welford, Ben Ambrose and Jamie Hill are up for the Democratic nomination. Welford is a retired Baldwin Community Schools teacher and currently a second-term Lake County commissioner; Ambrose is a Marine veteran who served for nearly 20 years and was most recently a program manager at Aptive Resources; and Hill is a physician's assistant and has previously worked as a paramedic and EMS instructor.
The final contested race is in the Republican primary for the Michigan 32nd district Senate seat. The seat is currently occupied by Jon Bumstead, who will hit his term limit at the end of the year. Kim Cole and Max Riekse are vying for the Republican nomination. Cole has been the Mason County sheriff since 2013, and Riekse, a retired U.S. Army veteran and retired teacher, is a former Fruitport Township Parks commissioner who has unsuccessfully sought numerous political offices over the years. The winner of the primary will face Rebecca Amidon, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
