Politics

Republican Rick Shaffer will return to serve two years as a member of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners. In the only contested race to the seven-member board, Shaffer fended off Democrat Erin Schultes for the newly created Precinct 1, which comprises Lockport and Florence townships, and the city of Three Rivers.

Michigan election officials would begin processing absentee ballots two days before the Nov. 8 election under legislation approved Wednesday in hopes of avoiding delays in counting, with absentee voting expected to remain a popular option. Michigan is one of several key swing states that allows no-excuse mail-in ballots but doesn’t allow local election offices to begin processing ballots until 7 a.m. on …

A Mendon Township man defeated incumbent Kathy Pangle from the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners following Tuesday’s primary election. Unofficial results show District 3 challenger Rusty Baker topped Pangle by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. Baker still has a general election ahead of him in November. Barring an unlikely upset in that contest, Baker will secure …

The race for St. Joseph County Commission’s District 4 featured two challengers seeking to replace Dan Czajkowski, who is stepping down after a six-year run. White Pigeon resident Luis Rosado had a narrow victory over Constantine Township’s David Hayslip. Unofficial results show Rosado secured about 53 percent of the votes to Hayslip’s 47 percent. Rosado said he vows to commit …

With most precincts reporting, Jonathan Lindsey appears to have defeated incumbent Kim LaSata in the Republican race for State Senate District 17. By late Tuesday, Lindsey had a margin of 61 percent of the vote to LaSata’s 39 percent. Meanwhile, Steve Carra was on his way to re-election to the Republican nomination for the State House District 36 seat. As …

An effort to lock certain voting rights in the Michigan Constitution has taken a major step toward the fall ballot, eclipsing a rival campaign led by Republicans to limit absentee voting and add other restrictions. Promote The Vote, a coalition of 27 groups, submitted nearly 670,000 signatures Monday. While the signatures still must be validated by election officials, the petitions …

Michigan voters in November will decide whether to revise some of the country’s strictest legislative term limits and require state elected officials to report information about their finances to avoid conflicts of interest. The Legislature on Tuesday unveiled the proposed constitutional amendment and placed it on the statewide ballot within hours, with no debate or notice. The move saved a ballot committee …

A jury on Friday acquitted two men of all charges in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer but couldn’t reach verdicts against the two alleged leaders, a stunning defeat for the government after a weekslong trial that centered on an FBI sting operation just before the 2020 election. The decisions were announced a few hours after the jury said it was …

Longtime Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton, who voted to impeach President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, announced Tuesday he will not run for a 19th term in Congress. Upton, 68, is the fourth of 10 Republicans who backed impeachment to not seek reelection, joining Reps. John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Anthony Gonzalez of …

Lockport Township resident Rick Shaffer has announced his candidacy for Second District St. Joseph County Commissioner. Shaffer has served as a county commissioner on two previous occasions. On the ballot during the Aug. 4 primary election, the second district seat will represent Florence and Lockport townships, part of Fabius Township, and part of the city of Three Rivers. It is …