A look at how Kalamazoo County voted for president and, on average, countywide races. Note: many of the elections in 1988, 1992 and 1996, Democrats did not run candidates for office.
KALAMAZOO, MI — What color is Kalamazoo County? Does it lean Democrat or Republican?
In four of the last five presidential elections, Kalamazoo County has voted for a Democrat for president. But in countywide races for sheriff, prosecuting attorney, drain commissioner, clerk and treasurer, Republicans have won 22 of the 25 seats and Democrats just three in those elections.
The 2000 election was the first time in recent memory in Kalamazoo County that Democrats had candidates run for all the countywide seats, besides surveyor, which is a part-time job and the candidate has to be a registered surveyor. Twelve years ago, Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore won the county by some 500 votes and a Democrat, Mary Powers, won drain commissioner. But, Republican candidates won countywide races by an average of 49,254 to 41,807 votes.
One reason for the strong Republican hold is that many of the Republicans who have run for office in Kalamazoo County have been long-time incumbents. And Democrats often have not had candidates run for many seats. In 1992, when Democrat Bill Clinton won Kalamazoo County with 52 percent of the vote, Democrats didn’t put up candidates for county prosecutor, clerk, treasurer or drain commissioner.
In recent years, Democrats have seen the average number of votes cast for the party's candidates for countywide offices increase — from 48,807, on average, in 2000 to 60,629 in 2008. In 2004, the Democrats' presidential nominee, John Kerry, pulled in about 51 percent of the vote in Kalamazoo County. Four years later, nearly 60 percent of the county voted for Barack Obama, slightly higher than the 57 percent Obama received statewide. And in that 2008 election, Democrats Richard Fuller, who was elected Kalamazoo County sheriff, and Pat Crowley, who was elected county drain commissioner, tallied vote totals 10 percentage points higher than the Democrats who ran in 2004.
Going into the Nov. 6 election, local chairs of both of the major parties predict their candidates will do well. David Pawloski, chairman of the county Democratic party, said this is the most experienced group of candidates the party has put up.
"This is the best slate of countywide Democratic candidates we have ever run," Pawloski said.
In the past, Democrats often did not have strong candidates on the ballot, he said.
"I believe it is about individual candidates and where they stand on the issues," Pawloski said.
That group includes two incumbents, two who currently hold elected office who are seeking other offices, and one who worked in the office that he's running to lead, Pawloksi said.
Al Heilman, who chairs the local Republican party, said candidates like incumbent Treasurer Mary Balkema, incumbent Clerk Tim Snow and prosecutor candidate Scott Pierangeli have solid experience in the offices they are seeking. Heilman said most people he knows will likely vote along party lines and the only time they would cross over is if they have a personal connection with the other candidate.
Some other news from Southwest Michigan on the politics front:
— A profile on WMU alumnus and Libertarian candidate for Senate Scotty Boman
— Two Democratic candidates are hosting a town hall tonight in Benton Harbor. Candidate for Congress Mike O'Brien and Jim Hahn, who is running against Republican Al Pscholka for the 79th state house district, will meet at the Citadel on Friday night at 91 Hinkley Street.
— Concerned Women for America CEO and President Penny Nance will speak at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The event is called: "Today's Politics: What's a Christian to Do?"
Fritz Klug is a politics and energy reporter for MLive and the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact him at fklug@mlive.com or 269-370-0584. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or App.net.