Turnout low as voters head to polls in Warren, Westland, Eastpointe for mayoral primaries

Warren — Voters trickled into precincts across Metro Detroit Tuesday, voting for a variety of offices, including a new mayor in Waren amid a dispute with current Mayor Jim Fouts who was barred from seeking a fifth term.

Six candidates are on the ballot in Tuesday's primary in Warren: George Dimas, Lori Stone, Scott Cameron Stevens, Michelle Nard, Alfonso King and Patrick Green. The top two vote-getters will go head-to-head in November's general election.

Gwen Thomas, 63, was excited to cast her vote for a new mayor, though she did not want to say for whom she voted. She had a polling place worker take a photo of her in front of the Butcher Community Center as she posed on her scooter, one of her legs encased in a cast.

"It's time for change," Thomas said. "We need to catch up with the rest of southeast Michigan."

Thomas said she was happy to see Fouts off the ballot, because she was disappointed with how passive the city was in helping small businesses during his administration. She wants to see more diversity, equity and inclusion in the city and was glad to have young candidates to vote for for both the City Council and mayor.

"It's time that these old heads move to the side and let young people (in) that aspire to do some great things," Thomas said, noting that she also wants to see a new administration at the police department. "We won't continue to brand ourselves as a city that feels police brutality is OK. It's time for all that to change."

Voters in cities across Metro Detroit will decide on several primary issues, including the mayoral race in Eastpointe and another in Westland. The polls are open until 8 p.m.

In Southfield, where voters are selecting two finalists for a new city clerk, turnout was slow midafternoon Tuesday at the Thompson K-8 International Academy, home to four precincts. Five voters showed up over a half hour in Michigan's 13th most populous city.

One of them was Eric Lee, 34, who said he makes it a habit to vote.

"I vote every time there is an election. ... We need to do better on voting," Lee said.

The primary candidates are Gabi Grossbard, Janet Jackson, Jay Reid and Barbara Seldon, who are vying to replace former Southfield Clerk Sherikia Hawkins, who resigned in October after pleading no contest to election-related charges filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office in 2019.

Lee said he voted for Jackson after doing his own research and said she was the best candidate.

In Warren ― where Fouts filed a federal lawsuit last week, saying his federal rights were violated by barring him from running again, and asking the courts to decertify Tuesday's results ― turnout was slow Tuesday morning at Warren Mott High School and at the Butcher Community Center. The high school had less than a dozen voters before 8:30 a.m. and the community center had about 35 before 9 a.m.

The community center usually has the city’s biggest voter turnout, as it covers three precincts, said Jennifer Jenkins, who is running the polling place for precincts 32 and 33.

Jenkins said summer elections are usually slower, especially in the mornings when people do not have to get out of the house to get their kids to the bus stop. Things should pick up around dinner and when people get off work Tuesday evening, she said, but ultimately, she doesn’t expect a huge turnout.

Kim Ruffini, 54, said she voted for Dimas in hopes that conditions in the city would remain similar to how they were under Fouts. Fouts endorsed Dimas.

“It really hasn’t been too bad in Warren so I’m a little leery about the change,” Ruffini said. “I don’t think (Fouts) did too bad. I think this one (Dimas) will keep it going.”

More:Warren City Council warns Fouts against election meddling as it seeks to toss his lawsuit

More:Six Warren hopefuls vow to fix divided city in bids to replace Mayor Fouts

Elizabeth McIntyre, 38, came to vote just before 10 a.m. and was surprised to find she was only the 13th voter of the day in her precinct. She voted for Green for mayor because he has backed the unions previously and her husband is in a union.

“I didn’t want the wrong person to become mayor,” she said of why she came out to vote.

She thought Fouts did a good job as mayor, but he needs to step aside now that his term is over. He needs to trust he did a good enough job that the next person can take over and continue leading.

In Wayne County, six candidates are running in the Westland mayoral primary to decide which two will advance to the fall election, hoping to fill the two remaining years of the term of former Mayor Bill Wild, who led the city for 16 years before resigning in January to take a private sector job.

And in Oakland County, voters are determining how to winnow the field for electing a new city clerk in Southfield and deciding bond requests or millage renewals in three school districts.

kberg@detroitnews.com