The Republican race for the newly drawn 3rd District seat on the Board of Commissioners, in which there was no incumbent, ended up becoming Livingston County’s biggest primary nail biter. The district includes Iosco, Putnam and Unadilla townships, as well as parts of Handy and Hamburg townships.
In the end, the three-person race boiled down to a two-person contest, both in terms of campaign size and votes cast. Frank Sample of Pinckney received 1,701 votes, 29 more than the 1,672 votes cast for Meghan Reckling, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party; Dan Delmerico, a former Democrat who served as the Iosco Township Clerk for 20 years, received 435 votes.
Delmerico appeared to not do much campaigning, while Sample and Reckling campaigned hard, with each racking up an impressive list of endorsements.
Sample had the public support of state Rep. Bob Bezotte, Dave Domas (who won the Republican primary for the 2nd District seat on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners), Mike Detmer (who lost his Republican primary challenge to incumbent state Sen. Lana Theis), and Livingston County Register of Deeds Brandon Denby.
Reckling’s list of endorsements included former state Rep. Hank Vaupel, Prosecutor David Reader, Drain Commissioner Brian Jonckheere, Putnam Township Supervisor Dennis Brennan, and Handy Township David Roddy, and a host of others.
Sample will face Democrat Lori Cowan in the Nov. 8 general election.
