Grosse Pointe Elections 2012: Millage Proposal Defeated

1:56 AM:  The Grosse Pointe Woods Millage Proposal and Road Construction Bond have been voted down according to the Woods' General Election results.

Voters denied the millage increase proposed by the Woods City Council by 2,200 votes and the Road Bond was defeated by nearly 900 votes.  

Cindy Pangborn and Judy Gafa have won seats on the Grosse Pointe Public School Board. Gafa garnered 15,467 district votes while Pangborn earned 13,398 and Broman 9,386 votes respectively.  

Republican Dan Schulte bested Democrat Brian Banks in both Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Pointe Shores for the 1st Distict State Representative race. The district also includes Harper Woods and part of Detroit. Patch will update the race total vote count when it become available.

Robert Sheehy, Republican candidate for Wayne County Commissioner defeated incumbent Democrat Tim Killeen in every city in the Pointes except Grosse Pointe Park.  But with 75 of 83 of the precincts reporting in Wayne County, Killeen led the race with 67.40 percent of the votes.

UNOFFICIAL 2012 GROSSE POINTE WOODS ELECTION RESULTS

Brian Banks, Democrat

1:51 AM:  Grosse Pointe Farms General Election results are in and posted. Dan Grano wins race in the Farms more than 2:1 against Tilabi for 2nd District State Representative.  Pangborn and Gafa lead Grosse Pointe School Board Race.

UNOFFICIAL 2012 GROSSE POINTE FARMS ELECTION RESULTS 

1:06 AM:  Grosse Pointe Shores has posted their 2012 General Election results. Shores Mayor Pro tem Dan Schulte (R) sweeps Brian Banks (D) in Schulte's hometown. Pangborn and Gafa lead Grosse Pointe School Board race and Robert Sheehy wins the Shores' by almost a thousand votes.

UNOFFICIAL 2012 GROSSE POINTE SHORES ELECTION RESULTS

Brian Banks, Democrat

12:40 AM:  Grosse Pointe Park and the City of Grosse Point have posted their election results.  Broman trails Gafa and Pangborn in both cities in the Grosse Pointe School Board race.  Dan Grano wins in both the Park and City for 2nd District, State Representative.

UNOFFICIAL 2012 GROSSE POINTE PARK ELECTION RESULTS 

UNOFFICIAL 2012 CITY OF GROSSE POINTE ELECTION RESULTS

11:08 PM:  Grosse Pointe Patch is still awaiting local results from Grosse Pointe cities.  Check back soon.

9:00 PM:  Republicans supporting candidate John Hauler for U.S. Congress gathered at Andiamo's in Grosse Pointe Woods for a campaign celebration and to watch the results roll in.

It was a family affair for Hauler, whose brother Steve Hauler, sister Deanna Zwisele and wife Barb mugged with Hauler for the camera and praised his tenacity to run for office.  Well-wishers streamed through the door and praised Hauler for his campaign efforts.

Hauler paused a moment and predicted that Mitt Romney would take Michigan's electoral votes.

"I was on the Romney bus all day yesterday and at every stop, the crowds were bigger and bigger," Hauler said.

Talking about his own campaign race for the U.S. House of Representatives, Hauler acknowledges that his district is a difficult one for Republicans as it leans heavily Democratic.

"Win or lose, I've already won," Hauler grinned.  

8:30 PM:  Grosse Pointe Democrats hosted a club get-together for local politicians and campaign workers at Marge's Bar on Mack Ave.

The mood of the packed room was festive as the crowd discussed the day's election and watched the media predictions on the big screen television.  As state and national races were called for Democrats, the crowd cheered and applauded.

Wayne County Commissioner Tim Killeen, on the ballot as the incumbent, was all smiles as he greeted constituents and campaign volunteers.

"I think that President Obama will win--and probably easier than predicted," Killeen prophised.  About his own race, Killeen was less direct.

"I'm anxious to see the State Supreme Court results--we really need a Democratic majority there to provide some balance," Killeen said.

Killeen was enthusiastic about what he called a "historic" voter turn out.

"It's our democracy at its best when large numbers of voters exercise their right to vote," Killeen said.

8:00 PM:  POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED! Check back here on Grosse Pointe Patch throughout the night for the latest news and results.

6:35 PM: The City of Grosse Pointe's two precincts had a total of 1,794 voters turn out for both precincts.  Precinct 1 had 794 voters and Precinct 2 had 1000 as of 6 P.M. this evening.

Poll worker Peter Randazzo at Maire Elementary School said, "We definitely saw a lull around 3 P.M. but it's definitely picked up again.

6:15 PM:  Judy Florian, Precinct Chair at Grosse Pointe Park's City Hall, said, "We're definitely seeing the "coming home from work" traffic now."

"We had a very busy morning with 25-30 people standing in line, waiting for us to open the doors this morning," Florian continued.

Florian said her precinct was one of the smallest in the Park with 940 voters.  As of this evening, 384 had visited the polls and 120 had submitted absentee ballots--giving the precinct a voter turnout of about 53 percent so far.

5:53 PM:  Grosse Pointe Farms Precinct 4 at Kerby Elementary had voters lined up out the door when they opened their doors this morning, Chair Roland Carloni said.

Carloni said that as over 5:45 p.m., the tabulator showed that 561 voters had come through Kerby's voting booths.

The evening traffic was steady but Carloni said there was a tapering of voters at noon and that it had picked up at the end of the day again.

5:40 PM:  Grosse Pointe Woods Precinct 4 is busy with after work voters stopping to cast their ballots on their way home.

Precinct Chair Bob McGovern said of the precinct's 1,683 registered voters, 765 had come in to vote.  Precinct 4 is the smallest of the Woods districts and Ferry is the largest.

"We could easily be at 800-900 tonight in all reality," McGovern said.

He estimated that about 30 percent of the precinct's voters would vote absentee as they would city wide.  Grosse Pointe Woods has 13, 283 registered voters.

Joining McGovern as a poll volunteer was resident George L. Bush--not "W."  

"They put us at the same precinct to balance the ticket," McGovern joked.

10:00 AM:  Grosse Pointe Shores Municipal Building's parking lot has a long line of cars waiting to park and long lines inside as voters wait their turn to catch their ballot.

Shores Election Clerk Tom Krolcyck said that nearly half of the Shores' 2,400 registered voters had voted by 10 a.m. today.  Nearly 850 had voted earlier by absentee ballot and about 400 had visited the polls this morning.

Krolcyck said that the Shores' voter turnout in the 2008 election was about 87 percent.

9:15 AM: Chris Kaczanowski says elections are in her “blood.”

Kaczanowski, who braved the chilly weather Tuesday morning to campaign for state representative candidate Dan Schulte, said she’s been out on election days since she was 8.

And she said Tuesday’s weather wasn’t bad. Kaczanowski said she stood outside for 14 hours in 25-degree weather in February 2008.

9:03 AM: A line of people snaked through Mason Elementary School by the time the precinct opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Grosse Pointers will be faced with a long ballot of local, county and state races and issues today.

Locally, Grosse Pointe voters will be choosing state representatives for two new Michigan House Districts, 1 and 2, Wayne County Commissioner for 1st District, as well as two new school board members for the Grosse Pointe Public School Board.

Grosse Pointe Woods voters will decide whether or not to approve a millage increase of 1.85 mills to support the city's General Fund Budget.  The millage increase is in excess of the limitation imposed by the Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution and thus requires residents' approval.

Grosse Pointe Woods voters will also decide if they want to approve an additional 2.14 mills tax increase for the city to borrow up $10 million dollars over ten years for road improvements.

Please click here for your Grosse Pointes Voter Guide and Polling Locations.

If you haven't voted yet, click on the PDF attached to the article to study a sample ballot before you go to the polls.

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Plus! Keep up to date with statewide and county elections on Grosse Pointe Patch by visiting Michigan Election 2012 and Wayne County Elections 2012.