READY FOR THE JOB

While the Democratic primary for Oakland County exec sounds like it will be a doozy, the Republicans have decided they are not rolling over and playing dead. After owning the top job – let’s be real, they controlled most of the county for decades – many Oakland County Republicans are not ceding control – other than sacrosanct Sheriff Michael Bouchard – to the Dems just because they had a good roll of the dice in 2018. While off the record many acknowledge it will likely be all-Democrat down the line down ballot in Oakland County, many candidates were not letting open seats go to waste. Initially, former state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake), who has a long history of public service, from being Majority Floor Leader as state Senator, former White Lake Supervisor, state representative and ran unsuccessfully to be the Republican candidate for congress in the 11th District in 2018, initially filed to run for water resources commissioner this year, when he said he had an epiphany. As a close friend of former county executive L. Brooks Patterson, who hired Kowall as county economic and legislative liaison in early 2019, he said he knows what it takes for the county to continue to thrive. Kowall said he’s not a huge fan of some of the things going on at the executive suite, and he doesn’t want his years of knowledge to go to waste – and he’s ready and wants to serve. Jeffrey Nutt, his Republican opponent, is an attorney whose only elected office has been as his homeowner’s association president.