Region’s races for state, US offices on Tuesday
Voters in Michigan and Wisconsin will have choices for state and U.S. offices on Tuesday’s ballot, including races for governor.
In Michigan, Democratic incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faces Republican Tudor Dixon in vying for a second four-year term.
Due to redistricting, Dickinson County now is split between two Michigan House districts, neither of them the 108th, which shifted east. State Rep. Beau LaFave, R-Iron Mountain, who currently represents all of Dickinson County as well as Delta and Menominee counties, will soon leave office due to term limits.
Under the state’s new legislative map, the cities of Iron Mountain and Kingsford and Breitung and Sagola townships in Dickinson County are part of a reconfigured 110th District, joining Iron, Gogebic, Ontonagon, Houghton and Keweenaw counties.
In the 110th District, state Rep. Greg Markkanen of Hancock is seeking a third and final House term against Casey VerBerkmoes of Hubbell, who was the lone Democrat to file this year after finishing third in the Democratic primary in 2020.
The eastern part of Dickinson County — the city of Norway and Breen, Felch, Norway, Waucedah and West Branch townships — is in 109th District with Baraga, Marquette and Alger counties. There, Democrat Jenn Hill of Marquette and Republican Melody Wagner of Gwinn are vying to succeed state Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, who also could not run again due to term limits.
Hill is vice president of the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan and was elected to the Marquette City Commission in 2018. Wagner, a former police officer, earned her party’s nomination to challenge Cambensy in 2018 and 2020 but was not elected.
State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, is seeking a second four-year term in the U.P.’s 38th District. His Democratic opponent is John Braamse of Marquette, a 25-year Army veteran who has worked in Marquette Area Public Schools in special education since 2015.
Finally, U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, a Republican from Watersmeet, will face Bob Lorinser of Marquette for the 1st Congressional District seat Bergman has held since 2017. Lorinser is a family physician who served as medical director of the Marquette County Health Department during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, is running for a second four-year term against Republican businessman Tim Michels.
In Florence and area communities in Marinette counties, incumbent Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, faces Democrat Ben Murray of Porterfield in state Assembly District 36. Mursau was first elected to the state Assembly in 2004. Murray works in cost estimating at Marinette Marine and has a small hobby farm.
The 36th District includes parts of Marinette, Oconto, Shawano and Forest counties and all of Menominee and Florence counties.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican from Minocqua, is seeking his second term in the 7th Congressional District. His opponent is Dick Ausman, a Democrat from Lac du Flambeau in Vilas County who has a background as a publisher of business publications.
For parts of Marinette County, incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Green Bay who has held the seat since 2017, is being challenged by Jacob VandenPlas, a Libertarian from Sturgeon Bay, and Paul Boucher of Green Bay, who is running as an Independent.
Finally, in a statewide race, Republican two-term incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson faces Democrat Mandela Barnes, the current lieutenant governor.




