Trustee candidate overcomes negative media reports
A Republican candidate for a vacant seat on the Clinton Township Board of Trustees easily overcame negative media attention to win Tuesday’s special election.
Dan Kress, a licensed residential builder, defeated Democrat Iona Means by a 52%-to-43% margin, according to unofficial election results released early Wednesday by the Macomb
County Clerk’s Office.
A third candidate, Libertarian Mike Saliba, took in about 5% of the vote. He apparently failed to mount a campaign and didn’t return a questionnaire or inquiries from The Macomb Daily.
Means was gracious in defeat. “I am very pleased with the race and feel my team did a fantastic job,” she said. “I would like to wish Mr. Kress good luck. This is my truth, coming straight from my heart.”
Kress did respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.
The special election was called to fill a seat vacated by last summer’s resignation of former longtime Trustee Jenifer “Joie” West. It was the only local race on Tuesday’s Presidential Primary election.
Kress previously said efforts by the Clinton Township Building Department to prosecute him for building code violations are a “political stunt” designed to blemish his reputation prior to the election. He said it was “more than a coincidence” the ordinance complaint surfaced in the weeks leading up to the election.
The township’s prosecuting attorney, Charles Towner Jr., filed a criminal case against Kress, charging him with three counts of misdemeanor ordinance violations for property owned by an LCC he oversees. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 6 in 41B District Court.
Making his first run at public office, Kress was the subject of recent news articles by The Macomb Daily and Detroit Free Press focusing on his legal troubles as well as his divorce proceedings. He described himself as a “common sense” candidate who was focused on making improvements to the water quality of the Clinton River.
Despite the negative media attention, Kress continued with his campaign, saying if elected, he would support a property tax freeze while maintaining existing township services.
His Democratic opponent, Means, 61, claimed she had never heard of Kress in a conversation with a reporter.
Means, a retired Macomb County Department of Roads employee, centered her campaign around her family who had previously held political office. Her father, James Means, was the first Black resident appointed to the township’s Board of Trustees in 1956, and her sister, Michelle Braswell-Means, served as a Clintondale school board member. Both family members are now deceased.
Clinton Township Clerk Kim Meltzer said Kress is expected to be sworn into office on March 18.
He will serve on the township board until Nov. 19. He hasn’t stated whether he will run for a four-year term in the Nov. 5 general election.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Jim Fulner of the Libertarians of Macomb County said their candidate Mike Saliba’s finishing with 5% — or 913 votes — of the vote was the “largest in years” for a Michigan Libertarian nominee in a race that also included a Republican and Democrat.