Return of the GOP

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Democrat Larry Kestenbaum has been County Clerk since 2005. "Through emphasis on customer service, transparency, improving technology, and legislative advocacy at the state level, I think I have made a positive difference in the life of Washtenaw County and the state," he emails. Republican Stan Watson has never held elected office, but says he's running now because "I'd like to put balance into the county and thought I could help the younger Republicans put forward the new Republican Party."

Evan Pratt hasn't held elected office either, but the Democratic candidate for Water Resource Commissioner emails that he has an environmental engineering degree and "over 23 years' experience designing and managing drain projects, stream restoration and other water resource projects." Republican Eric Scheie comes from the libertarian end of the Republican Party and earned a respectable 40 percent of the vote when he ran for city council in 2010. He says he's running again because "unopposed elections lead to a sense of arrogance," and chose water commissioner because he's "very concerned about water quality."

Marlene Chockley, the GOP candidate for county treasurer, is a former three-term county commissioner. "I'm running to make people aware of the impact property taxes have on people," Chockley says. "It's a question of, do we care for ourselves rather than have the government do it for us? I think property taxes should go down. The government's grown too big."