General election Tuesday, Nov 3, 2026 · Local and district races
Source: Ballotpedia, Van Buren County, Michigan, elections, 2026 (secondary source, not the official ballot) (accessed Oct 19, 2026). Names are shown as listed by the source. Which district races you see depends on where you live; check yours at Michigan Voter Information Center.
| Office | Candidates |
|---|---|
| County offices | |
| Van Buren County Board of Commissioners District 5 (Special) | John Tapper III (D) vs. Josh Przygocki (R) |
| Schools, colleges & special districts | |
| Covert Public Schools, At-large Vote for 3 | Valerie Bury, Veronica Aburto Cortes, Ella Rae Harrington, Aaron Joseph Wittorp |
| Decatur Public Schools, At-large Vote for 2 | Josh Docekal, Laurie Southworth, Darren Tyria |
| Dowagiac Union School District, At-large Vote for 3 | Priscilla Cano, Melissa Emmons Grau, Rob Ickes, Taylor Phillips |
| Gobles Public School District, At-large Vote for 3 | Ben Baxter, Brandon Blodgett, Jason Holland, Kevin Ray, Kevin White |
| Marcellus Community Schools, At-large Vote for 4 | Edward S. Asmus, Morgan Brown, Patricia Buckhold, Nicki Hackenberg, Justin Ware |
| Mattawan Consolidated School, At-large Vote for 3 | Vickie Mabin Herzberg, Roxine Kemp, Mark A. Noffsinger, Ted Roethlisberger |
| Otsego Public Schools school board, At-large Vote for 3 | Todd Bentley, Jessica Hazelhoff, Shelly Jirgens, Kathleen M. Kuipers |
| Watervliet School District, At-large Vote for 3 | Kimberly Adams, Tom Isbrecht, Rod Kinzler, Carrie Wilder |
| City & town offices | |
| Decatur Village President (Special) | Cynthia A. Pachner vs. Jessica L. Pelfrey |
| Hartford City Council At-large Vote for 3 | Gage Gardner, Mark Little, Charlene Sikes, Tom VanLierop |
| Lawton Village Library Board At-large Vote for 3 | Jessica Conte, Margaret M. Cornish, Marianne McArthur, Rodney Reid |
| Paw Paw Village Board of Trustees At-large (Special) | Douglas Craddock vs. Michael K. McCarthy |
| Paw Paw Village Board of Trustees At-large Vote for 3 | Walter Elsner, Edward R. Hellwege, Kim Kolosar-VanGalder, Michael Pioch, Robert Wheatley, Pat Wioskowski |
Also on every Van Buren County ballot: U.S. Senate, Governor, the other statewide offices, your U.S. House district, your legislative districts, the Michigan Supreme Court, the state education boards and the statewide proposals.
Party labels are as listed by Ballotpedia (D = Democrat, R = Republican). County commissioners are partisan; judicial, school board and most city races are nonpartisan. Party nominees were chosen in the Aug. 4 primary; only races on the Nov 3 ballot are listed.
This list comes from Ballotpedia, a secondary source, not the official ballot, and Ballotpedia notes its local lists may be incomplete. Your exact ballot: Michigan Voter Information Center.
One candidate per seat on the list (write-ins may still be possible).
Candidate bios and positions for these local races are not on Vote Book yet. Spot an error? Tell us · All Michigan counties