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The 53-year-old undersheriff and long-time Sanilac County Sheriff Department employee, won the five-man Republican contest for sheriff in Tuesday's primary election. With no Democratic challenger on the ballot, Biniecki is all but guaranteed victory in the November General Election.

Thirty-three percent of the registered voters went to the polls on Tuesday. They narrowed the list of district judge candidates to two for the general election, advancing Gregory Ross and Dennis Reid; chose the winner of the four-man Republican race for drain commission -- Greg Alexander, who goes on to meet Democrat Cheryl Collins in November; defeated the jail proposal by a wide margin, but passed three other countywide millages - Medical Control Authority, senior citizen and library.

Voters tossed one incumbent county commissioner out of office. Challenger Jamie Daws defeated eight-year incumbent William Walters in District 6. Three other commissioners won their Republican races, along with a Republican challenger who will meet the incumbent Democrat in November.

Incumbent Road Commissioner Harold Donaghy won a four-man Republican contest in his bid for re-election.

Sheriff
Garry Biniecki won a close, nip and tuck race against second place finisher Greg Ferriby, a former undersheriff. Biniecki won 38.34 percent of the vote, compared to 35.38 percent for Ferriby. Mike Redman, Yale police chief finished third with 19.,88 percent, William Judkins came in fourth with 4.91 percent and Troy Mata in fifth place with 1.48 percent.

"It's big," said Biniecki after the final votes were tallied. "We had support across the county, that's absolutely what won it for us. We tried not to focus in any one area. I breathed every inch of it (Sanilac County), and I think this was proven tonight."

The fact that Biniecki had the endorsement of the retiring sheriff, Virgil Strickler, may have made the difference, according to Dan Dean, Biniecki's campaign advisor and a recognized expert on local politics.

"I think probably he's the current undersheriff and he had the backing of the current sheriff might have tipped it," said Dean.

Judge
The race for Sanilac County District Court judge was narrowed to two, with one candidate winning by a sizeable margin.

Sandusky attorney Gregory Ross received 58 percent of the votes, while Dennis Reid, another Sandusky lawyer had 18.9 percent and Friend of Court David Meyers finished third with 17.5 percent.

Ross and Reid will square off in November in a contest to succeed retiring 73rd District Judge James Marcus.

"I'm excited about the results. I'm happy about the results. But I'm not taking anything for granted," said Ross. "I'm going to continue to campaign vigorously through the fall to the general election."

Although finishing a distant second, Reid said the contest isn't over.

"At least I'm on the ballot," said Reid. "I'm still in the game, I plan on running a vigorous campaign until November."

Drain commissioner
The Republican nomination for county drain commissioner was won by Greg Alexander, who will meet Democrat Cheryl Collins for the four-year term in November.

Alexander collected 36.4 percent of the vote. He defeated Scott Western who polled 33.6 percent and Brian Williams who received 29.9 percent.

"I appreciate the efforts of all my friends and family and all the Sanilac County voters. I honor the two wonderful men that ran against me, they did a good job. I hope and pray for all the Republican support in November," stated Alexander.

The incumbent, long-time Drain Commissioner Jim Bowerman, is retiring at the end of his term in December.

County Commission
District 1 -- Republican incumbent John Merriman faced challenger Dean Berden in the primary. Merriman won, and will meet Democrat Joyce Wiley in November.

Merriman, who has served on the commission for 16 years, collected 55 percent of the votes, compared to 44.9 percent for Berden.

District 2 -- Republican Michael Reisner was unsuccessful in his attempt to unseat incumbent Gary Russell. Russell polled 59.6 percent to 40.3 percent for Reisner. Russell has no opposition in November.

District 3 - Commissioner Jim Ruby won his contest against Charles Zampich. Ruby, who is serving his second two-year term on the commission, rolled up 73.89 percent of the votes.

District 4 - Retiring Drain Commissioner James Bowerman will face incumbent Democrat Norton Schramm in November. Bowerman defeated his Republican opponent, Alvin Kukuk with 86 percent of the vote.

District 5 - Republican challenger Jamie Daws defeated eight-year incumbent

William Walters. Daws, who could not be reached for comment, collected 61 percent of the vote.

"She ran a great campaign," said Walters. "She spent a lot of money and I wasn't willing to...I relied on the voters to look at my record. I wish her well. This county is going to need a lot of help in the next two years."

Daws, a real estate agent and chairman of the county public health board, will be unopposed in the general election, barring any write-in candidates.

Road commissioner
Incumbent Republican Harold Donaghy defeated three challengers, and has no opposition on the ballot in November. Donaghy received 41.4 percent in the close contest. Lee Sweet finished second with 40.4 percent, followed by Terry Dwyer with 10 percent and Carl Trigger with 7.9 percent.