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    • The winner of a Michigan State University trustee seat remains uncertain
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    The winner of a Michigan State University trustee seat remains uncertain

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    Republicans won at least four of six contested Michigan university board seats Tuesday, according to Associated Press polls, but the winner of one of two open seats at Michigan State University remained uncertain Friday morning.

    University of Michigan Regent Denise Ilitch is the only Democrat on any of the university’s three boards whose members are elected in national elections, which the AP declared the winner, based on 99 percent of the estimated number of votes and unofficial results.

    A Democratic incumbent, Labor Leader Mark Gaffney, was removed from the Wayne State University Board of Governors, the AP said based on unofficial results, reducing the Democratic majority on that board to 5-3 from 6-2.

    Strong party performance at the top of the ticket, which Michigan Republicans enjoyed on Tuesday in awarding the state’s electoral votes to former President Donald Trumpoften has ramifications in down-ballot races.

    That appears to have been true Tuesday in the Wayne State, UM and MSU board elections.

    But at MSU, AP had not declared a winner for one of the two board seats contested in a close second- and third-place contest as of Friday morning.

    The AP showed Republican Mike Balow in first place with 25 percent of the vote and declared him the winner Thursday.

    The AP showed Democrat Rebecca Bahar-Cook in second place with 24 percent of the vote, Republican Julie Maday in third place, also with 24 percent of the vote but nearly 3,500 fewer votes than Bahar-Cook and Democrat Thomas Stallworth III. in fourth place, with 23% of the votes.

    Earlier updates from the AP showed Balow in first place and Maday in second, as reflected in unofficial numbers posted on the state website from Wednesday to Friday, and Maday had already declared victory in a statement by Wednesday’s press.

    “We’re confident she won,” Maday campaign spokesman Randall Thompson said Thursday.

    Bahar-Cook, who told supporters on Facebook that she might not have stayed, told the Free Press on Thursday that the official numbers approved by canvassers would be the correct ones and that she “will have to wait and see see”. But she said she identified what appeared to be an error in the state totals, with Allegan County results showing she won 20,363 votes there, which she thought was correct, but the website showing she received only 2,363 of votes in Allegan.

    The state receives its total votes from the 83 counties.

    Angela Benander, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, said late Thursday that it “appears to be a data entry error on the county’s part,” but state officials were “trying to verify” what happened. The state has not revised its rankings or vote totals for the MSU race, which showed Maday ahead of Bahar-Cook by more than 14,000 votes as of 6 a.m. Friday.

    Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski said in an email Friday that he is looking into the situation.

    Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 positions)

    With about 99 percent of the vote counted, the AP called the Wayne State races for Republican incumbent Michael Busuito and Republican newcomer Sunny Reddy Thursday morning. They received 25 percent and 24 percent of the vote, respectively, while Gaffney and fellow Democrat Rasha Demashkieh fell short, each with 23 percent, according to unofficial results compiled by the AP.

    Busuito, a Royal Oak physician, is active in philanthropy, his medical career and training future physicians.

    “I cannot thank the voters of Michigan enough for allowing me to serve eight more years at the university I love,” Busuito said in a news release.

    Reddy, of Bloomfield Hills, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who earned his master’s degree in chemical engineering.

    Gaffney, a Democrat from Detroit, is a former president of the Michigan AFL-CIO who was first elected to the board in 2016.

    Demashkieh, of Fort Gratiot, is a pharmacist who served on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.

    University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 positions)

    With about 99 percent of the vote counted, the AP declared UM Republican newcomer Carl Meyers and Ilitch elected, receiving 26 percent and 25 percent support, respectively, while Democrat Shauna Ryder Diggs and Republican Sevag Vartanian were absent, receiving 24% and 23% of the vote respectively, according to unofficial results compiled by The AP.

    Meyers, of Dearborn, succeeds expiring Republican Regent Ron Weiser, who was he was not renominated by the Michigan Republican Party at its state convention in Flint in August. Meyers is a vice president of an investment firm.

    Ilitch, of Birmingham, won a third eight-year term on the council. She is the owner of the Ilitch Family Companies, which owns Little Caesars Pizza, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers and other companies.

    The 6-2 Democratic majority on the board remains unchanged.

    Ryder Diggs is a Grosse Pointe physician who previously served on the board from 2013 to 2021.

    Vartanian, from Novi, runs an asset management firm.

    Michigan State University Board of Trustees (2 positions)

    The winner of one of two available eight-year terms at MSU remained uncertain Friday.

    No incumbent was on the MSU ballot after Trustee Dianne Byrum, a Democrat, chose not to seek a third term and Board President Dan Kelly, whose term was ending, was not renominated by the Michigan Republican Party.

    Balow, of Plymouth, whom the AP announced Thursday as the winner of one of the two seats, works in real estate.

    Bahar-Cook, of East Lansing, is CEO of Capitol Fundraising Associates.

    Maday is from Novi, where she was a city councillor.

    Stallworth, of Detroit, is a former state lawmaker and utility executive.

    Democrats currently hold a 7-1 majority on MSU’s board of trustees.

    (This story has been updated to add new information.)

    Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].

    Looking for more on this year’s Michigan elections? Check our voter guidesubscribe to our electoral newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor.

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