ANN ARBOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Voters in Ann Arbor Township on Tuesday kept Kristine Bolhuis in the clerk job she was handed last year, electing the Democrat in a special general election where nobody ran against her.
The township board picked Bolhuis for the post in 2025 after longtime clerk Rena Basch stepped away following two decades in the office. Basch left to become the first director of elections for Washtenaw County, a job the county created.
Tuesday’s win lets Bolhuis serve out what is left of the four-year term Basch began. That term runs until 2028, when the seat returns to the regular ballot.
Bolhuis is no newcomer to the office. She joined the clerk’s department in 2020 and was deputy clerk before the board elevated her. Outside township work she makes jewelry and earned an MFA in metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
The job carries more than ballots. Under Michigan law the township clerk keeps the official records, handles financial operations and runs elections, and also holds a vote on the Board of Trustees on budgets, hiring and zoning. The office administers elections for Barton Hills Village and the school district as well.
Results stay unofficial until the county board of canvassers certifies them.
Section: More Ann Arbor MI politics news
Filed under: Ann Arbor MI Politics News
