Iron County voters weigh local millages, contested primary races

Polls were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. as Iron County voters weighed local millage questions alongside contested primary races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House. The ballot also carried the Republican contest for Michigan’s 38th Senate District, a race centered on the open seat held by Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township.

Absentee ballots were available before Election Day, and early in-person voting started July 25. By Tuesday, 1.2 million Michiganders had already voted, a sign that the primary had been drawing heavy participation before the polls closed at 8 p.m. local time.

The 38th District race carried direct local weight for Iron County even though the seat stretches beyond county lines. McBroom was term-limited after eight years in office, and Michigan campaign filings listed Daniel L. Ewart, David Prestin and Beau Matthew LaFave as Republican candidates, with Kelli J. Van Ginhoven on the Democratic side. The result will shape who speaks for the western Upper Peninsula on issues that touch schools, roads, public safety, natural resource policy and local government aid.

The local ballot questions mattered in the same way. Millage proposals can affect property taxes, school budgets and the services counties rely on for transportation, emergency response and basic operations. In a place like Iron County, where turnout can be shaped by weather, work schedules and the distance between home and the polling place, even modest changes in participation can alter how close those questions come.

The regional stakes were visible just across the county line in Dickinson County, where voters also faced a slate of millage renewals on the primary ballot. Those included a 0.5-mill road renewal first levied in 2012 and estimated to raise $587,037, along with questions involving the Norway-Vulcan Senior Citizens Center, Nordic Ambulance and Sagola Township fire and ambulance protection. Together, the ballots across the western Upper Peninsula showed how quickly local tax questions can reach daily life, from road maintenance to emergency coverage.