By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published November 20, 2023
GROSSE POINTE FARMS/SHORES/WOODS — Voters in Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Shores and Grosse Pointe Woods also cast ballots for the Nov. 7 election — they just had fewer choices than their neighbors in the City and Park.
Grosse Pointe Farms — which consolidated all Election Day voting precincts into a single location, at Pier Park, for the first time — saw 16.87% of its 9,292 registered voters — or 1,568 — weighing in on an uncontested mayoral and City Council race. Incumbent Mayor Louis Theros will serve another two-year term, while incumbent City Council members Joe Ricci, Neil Sroka and Lev Wood will serve additional four-year terms.
Grosse Pointe Shores’ usually exceptional voter turnout was largely absent this year, with only 17% of the city’s 2,470 registered voters — or 426 — casting ballots in uncontested races that returned incumbent Mayor Ted Kedzierski and City Council members Danielle Gehlert, Donn Schroder and John Seago to new four-year terms.
In the Woods, Municipal Court Judge Ted Metry faced no challengers in his bid for another four-year term. The same was largely true for the Woods City Council incumbents — Angela Coletti Brown, Kenneth Gafa and Michael Koester — all of whom were elected to new four-year terms. There was one formally recognized write-in candidate, Bill Whitman, but write-in votes for the council only accounted for a little over 2% of the total. In the Woods, election officials say 18.21% of the city’s 14,467 registered voters — or 2,634 — cast ballots in this election.