Bahle beats Bunek in recall election. Democrats take control of Leelanau County Commission for first time
Pictured here: Democrat Lois Bahle (r) defeated Republican William Bunek (l) in today’s special recall election for a seat on the Leelanau County Commission.
From staff reports
Democrat Lois Bahle beat Republican Will Bunek today in a District 3 recall election that will swing the majority on the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners to the Democrats for the first time in county history.
Bahle won 786 votes to Bunek’s 643—on the strength of pre-election day absentee voter turnout and also a big win in Suttons Bay Township, where she won 552-409. (They tied with 234 votes apiece in Bingham Township.) Bahle had lost two previous County Commissioner elections to Bunek: by 86 votes in 2020, and by 119 votes in 2018. The third time proved to be the charm in this matchup.
Today’s results are unofficial but will be certified tomorrow, said County Clerk Michelle Crocker. Bahle will take office as soon as results are certified.
Today’s recall election was precipitated by controversial statements Bunek made in September 2021, during a board committee meeting, when he pushed to zero out funding for Early Childhood Services which Leelanau voters had narrowly approved in a 2019 millage.
“So you just said that if a public vote, a vote is taken and we think it’s wrong, it’s our job as a constitutional republic to nullify it?” Leelanau County Commissioner Gwenne Allgaier asked Bunek at the September 14 meeting.
“Yes, that’s exactly right,” Bunek responded.
Thanks to an 11th-hour compromise later that month, Commissioners narrowly averted the effort to defund the voter-approved early childhood services program. Instead they unanimously agreed to fund it at a smaller amount than the millage voters had approved two years earlier.
Nevertheless, that testy exchange between Allgaier and Bunek precipitated a recall campaign against Bunek, who has represented District 3 for the past 14 years.
Recall campaign organizer Jackie Anderson canvassed at a pop-up event in Suttons Bay last fall.
Jackie Anderson, one of Bunek’s constituents, filed paperwork in October to remove him from office, and she and others gathered more than 660 signatures.
Bahle’s win gives Democrats a political majority on the seven-member Leelanau County Commission for the first time, ever—at least until January 2023, when the winners of this November’s election take office.
“I filed the recall petition after listening to the video recording of his comments at the Sept. 14 meeting when he said he thought it was his duty to overturn the vote if they felt the public got it wrong,” said Anderson. “It’s a very dangerous precedent.
“I don’t think recalling someone should be done because of a disagreement about policy. But this is not about policy. What they can’t do is overturn and nullify millages that have been voted on in a free and fair election.”
Bahle said before this election that, if her party wins a majority on the Commission, they would focus on early childhood services, affordable housing and environmental issues such as renewable energy and recycling.
“I am relieved,” said Bahle, who celebrated the election victory with a glass of wine at home. “I want to thank all my supporters. I hope to get right to it and do a good job for all my constituents.”
