Michele Podzikowski and Cael Tanner assist a voter Nov. 5 at the Ferndale Area District Library.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published November 12, 2024
OAKLAND COUNTY — While the presidential race saw the state of Michigan turn red once again, several local races in Oakland County stayed blue.
Democrat Natalie Price once again was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. Her 6th District seat represents the cities of Berkley and Huntington Woods, and portions of the cities of Birmingham, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Township, Beverly Hills and Southfield.
“I’m so grateful to my voters and all of my constituents for trusting me to be their voice in Lansing, and the results are clear to me,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do to make sure that everybody is safe and protected in Michigan, and so I’m here for the work.”
Price received 39,803 votes against her Republican challenger, Brent Lamkin, who received 20,329.
Price will be returning to a House that has now been reclaimed by Republicans. She stated that while her role in Lansing will be different now in the minority, it won’t change how she works for her community.
“It doesn’t take away my resolve to show up to continue to represent what’s best for my constituents, to keep up the hard work and dedication to make sure that everybody has a fair shot in Michigan, and that’s what I’m here to do,” she said. “I’m so grateful to live in a district that clearly supports a collective vision of making sure that working families are safe and supported and protected, and that is my mandate to bring that voice to Lansing.”
Another result in the Michigan House of Representatives was Democrat Helena Scott winning the seat in the 8th District, which represents the cities of Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge and a portion of Detroit.
Scott received 37,636 against Republican Alex Kuhn, who got 3,956, and Working Class Party member Logan Ausherman, who received 1,400.
The Oakland County Commission’s District 19 race saw Democrat Charlie Cavell win another term, taking in 28,956 votes against Republican Paul Taros, who got 12,968.
“I think it’s humbling and validating and hopefully a literal vote of confidence that our goals to focus our efforts on poor, working and vulnerable people are what the people in our district want me to spend my energy on. So, I’m thankful for that,” he said.
With another term, Cavell stated he wants to get a program called Rx Kids out of Flint off the ground in Oakland County, which he said helps pregnant and nursing mothers and young families not lose income.
“Part of what I want to continue working on is … the social determinants of health, and that’s my focus,” he said. “That means housing, access to healthy food, your income or costs that you have to pay to meet your basic needs. So basically, social determinants of health are how easy is it for you to meet your basic needs as a resident of Oakland County. I want to make that easier for people. So there’s a whole bunch of programs that are in various stages of completion that actually we’ll be rolling out or being implemented, you know, depending on funding and arguing and all that in the next couple years.”
For nonpartisan races, four seats were up for grabs on the Ferndale Area District Library Board of Directors. Out of six candidates, the top four who secured four-year terms were Brianna Foraker (4,995 votes), Kelly Farrah (4,343), Jonathan Ross (4,274) and Amanda Hanlin (4,130). Finishing fifth and sixth were Adrienne M. Fazzolara (3,844) and Judeen Bartos (2,986).
The Berkley School District Board of Education also had two seats available this election. Jon Heger (8,248 votes) and Keith Allen Logsdon (8,150) beat out Robert E. Buxbaum (4,233) for their respective six-year terms.