Janet Jackson has won the Southfield clerk’s race to replace Sherikia Hawkins, who resigned last year after pleading no contest to election-related criminal charges.
Jackson defeated Gabi Grossbard 75%-25% in unofficial results for a partial term that will end on Nov. 17, 2025. Jackson has served as an Oakland County commissioner for 14 years, while Grossbard works as a Medicare agent.
Jackson campaigned on her experience in public office and argued the clerk’s office has always been efficiently run. Her priorities include maintaining “exemplary service” and running the 2024 presidential election smoothly.
Jackson plans to make sure the Southfield city clerk’s office remains exemplary, she said Tuesday night after winning.
“We have a big election in 2024, and we will be ready,” Jackson said. “I want to make sure that the office is very communicative with the public, to engage the public, and help increase voter turnout and help educate the voters.”
Grossbard campaigned on restoring faith and confidence in the city clerk’s office, both of which he said were hampered after Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel leveled voter fraud charges against the previous clerk.
Southfield resident Jamil Abdun-Noor voted for Jackson in the August primary, which she won with 60% of the vote in a larger field, and again in Tuesday’s general election.
Abdun-Noor said he wants “someone who’s honest and someone who cares about the people and integrity, in contrast to what you see a lot of in politics nowadays.”
Eric Malisow, 49 cast his ballot for Grossbard.
“He’s been apparent in the community for quite some time. He’s loyal to the community. I feel like he’s going to be invested in the community as well,” Malisow said. “I want somebody who’s been around and knows what the community needs.”
Two Southfield ballot measures asking voters to approve the city manager’s appointment of a clerk and treasurer instead of electing them were defeated.
On Ballot Proposal 2 about the clerk, voters rejected the idea 70%-30%. Southfield resident William Hamblin, 55, said he wants to continue voting for a clerk, as he considers elections a good way to hold politicians accountable.
“I don’t want anybody being appointed. I want to vote for my city clerk,” said Hamilton, who also voted for Jackson. “Ever since we moved out here, she’s always at some form of capacity inside of the politics within South field.”
On Ballot Proposal 1, voters rejected by 69%-31% a plan to let the city manager choose the city treasurer.
Elsewhere in Oakland County, Royal Oak voters approved a resolution in favor of replacing traditional elections with ranked choice voting, a system in which voters can rank all candidates for a given office on their ballot as opposed to selecting only one. The charter proposal passed with 51% of the vote.
Under ranked choice voting, if one candidate wins a majority of first place votes, a winner is automatically declared, similar to traditional voting. But if no candidate has more than 50% of the first place votes, the candidate with the fewest first place votes is eliminated. The second place votes of those ballots are recounted as first-place votes, and the process continues until one candidate has over 50%.
Supporters argued it would eliminate elections with crowded fields where the winner prevails with less than 50% of the vote. They also contended that more extremist candidates are unlikely to win.
Opponents, who labeled it “rigger choice voting,” argued that ranked choice voting violates the principle of one person, one vote by valuing some votes more than others. The process is complicated and causes voter confusion, which has led to lower turnout in cities with the practice, foes contend.
While a slim majority of Royal Oak voters support ranked choice voting, it can’t take effect. State election law would need to be changed to legalize the proposed voting practice, said Secretary of State’s office spokeswoman Cheri Hardmon.
Marijuana is an issue in Rochester, Birmingham and Keego Harbor, where voters were deciding whether to permit local marijuana retailers.
With all precincts reporting, Birmingham voters were rejecting by about 74%-26% a measure to lift the ban on marijuana sales and allow one medical marijuana facility and one recreational facility.
In Rochester, two proposed charter amendments that would have allowed up to three recreational marijuana shops in the city and created an application and regulation process for these establishments did not pass. Roughly 89% and 87% of Rochester voters, respectively, cast ballots against the two proposals.
In Keego Harbor, there are three ballot proposals that would regulate the operation of marijuana retail establishments.
The city currently does not regulate marijuana, and one proposal that would have allowed for the regulation of one retailer and prohibited the operation of all other establishments within the city was rejected 53%-47%.
In a separate proposed ordinance, 61% of voters rejected a plan that would have put the number of marijuana retail establishments allowed in the city on the ballot in the next regular election. In a 60%-40% vote, residents also defeated a third ballot question that would have created an application process for two retail cannabis establishments.
Source : Detroit News