It was a night of mixed results as voters approved property taxes seeking renewals and rejected brand new taxes.
The proposed $9.85 million tri-community senior center for Oxford, Addison and Orion failed by considerably large margins in all three townships, according to the unofficial results.
In Oxford Township, the $2.815 million bond issue to construct and equip the proposed center failed 5,002 to 2,442.
The proposed 10-year, 0.25-mill tax to operate the senior center failed 5,140 to 2,448.
Addison voters turned down the $1.085 million bond 1,823 to 878. The operating millage failed 1,752 to 1,007.
Orion voters rejected the $5.95 million bond 9,341 to 4,524. The millage failed 9,604 to 4,175.
The 10-year, 18-mill tax on all non-homestead properties used to help finance the Oxford school district’s operations overwhelmingly passed 6,704 to 3,087.
Addison’s four-year, 3.5-mill tax for police services was approved 1,781 to 1,005.
Oxford Township’s five-year, 2.9152-mill tax renewal for police services was approved 4,362 to 2,091.
Bradford Jacobsen (R-Oxford) easily won the District #1 seat on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners. He trounced Brandon Democrat Madalyn Miller 12,016 to 7,293.
Jacobsen will replace his popular father-in-law Bill Patterson, who passed away Oct. 16 after faithfully representing District #1 for eight years.
In little village of Leonard, the three incumbent councilmen running unopposed were predictably re-elected. Paul Almeranti received 96 votes, Larry Hoffman got 92 votes and David Rathburg garnered 78 votes.
State Sen. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) won re-election after defeating Democratic challenger Joseph Barrera 50,857 to 30,553. Bishop will continue to represent the 12th District, which includes Oxford and Addison, in Lansing.
State Rep. Jim Marleau (R-Lake Orion) was also re-elected. He beat Democratic challenger Bill Pearson 23,742 to 15,196. He will continue to represent Oxford and Addison as part of the 46th District.
Republican U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers (8th District) won re-election with 35,823 votes. He decimated Democratic challenger James Marcinkowski, who garnered 21,325 votes.
Oxford and Addison remained Republican communities as voters chose GOP candidates in the major races.
Even though Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm was re-elected, she lost in Oxford Township to Republican challenger Dick DeVos 4,761 to 3,233.
In Addison, Granholm lost to DeVos 1,867 to 1,012.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow may have carried the state, but Republican challenger and Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard won in Oxford 4,657 to 3,290 and in Addison 1,778 to 1,074.
Local voters agreed with others around the state and voted in favor of Proposal 2, which bans some types of affirmative action. Oxford voters chose to nix racial and gender preferences in public university admissions and government jobs by a margin of 5,802 to 2,181.
Addison residents agreed, voting 2,206 to 664 to end affirmative action.