Rochester Hills Election Results Are In

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Photo credit: Grace Ryba

Rochester Hills’ voters had many decisions to make on this year’s ballot.

Considering nearly half of the school board’s members were decided on earlier this November, teachers and parents across the city are interested in the results of the Rochester Hills Elections.

With 19,902 votes, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won Rochester Hills over the 17,676 votes Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton received, as well as the 1,392 votes Libertarian Gary Johnson obtained.

It was a close race for the member of the State Board of Education. Democrat John Austin won with a mere 23.62 percent of the vote. The other candidates were not far behind; Republican Tom McMillin took 23.01 percent of the vote, Republican Nikki Snyder took 22.22 percent, and Democrat Ish Ahmed took 21.24 percent, all within a couple percentages of each other.

Three of the seven seats on the Rochester Community School District school board were up for election this November. Among these seats, there was one two-year term and two four-year term positions. Michelle Bueltel defeated Elizabeth Witten for the two-year term seat, while Kevin Beers and Sandra Fiaschetti both won re-election to the four-year term seats.

Michelle Bueltel is 47 years old and part of the Rochester Adams PTSA, along with the Rochester Community PTA Council, and Rochester Area Neighborhood House. Bueltel wants to ensure every student, no matter their learning style, achieves at least one year of academic growth each grade by encouraging and promoting programs to support this goal.

Kevin Beers is 51 years old and a membership manager with the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Beers’ goal is to continue to advocate for all students as well as community relationships. He believes building relationships with decision-makers will help keep cuts out of the classroom and away from students.

“Our current Board of Education is very focused on all of our students and we have that in mind with every decision we make. It is vital for us to maintain this focus so every one of our nearly 15,000 students has a chance to succeed at their own level.” Beers said via email with Oakland Press reporter Natalie Broda.

Sandra Fiaschetti is 46 years old and an organizational psychologist/human resources consultant. Fiaschetti’s focus is on ensuring all students are prepared for life after high school and college, hopefully pursuing successful careers in the future, and deciding where the Rochester Community Schools $185 million bond will be spent.

Although the majority of Rochester Hills’ voters are Republican, the number of Democrats in the city is significantly close to its opposing party. This is what may have led to the close race for Presidential nominee and even closer race for the State Board of Education seat.