By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Democrats gained two seats on the Cass County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, giving them six on the 15-member panel, though the only upset was a rematch in the Niles area won this time by Debbie Johnson over Republican incumbent Dale Lowe.
District 1
Democrat Ed Goodman, 55, of Sink Road, Dowagiac, kept the seat he was appointed to in July when Republican Terri Kitchen moved to Chicago by outpolling Republican John Hrycko, 66, of Brush Lake Road, Eau Claire, who owns Dowagiac Commercial Press.
Goodman, an electrician, tallied 667 votes to 545 for Hrycko.
District 2
Chairman Robert Wagel, 66, of O'Keefe Road, Wayne Township, downed Democrat James Kladis, 51, of Sunset Drive, Wayne Township, in the Dowagiac-area district.
Wagel, the Republican incumbent, garnered 664 ballots to 434 for Kladis, who owns The Marketplace Cafe and Doughnut Shop in downtown Dowagiac.
Wagel, commission chair for the past three years of his dozen years on the board, is a retired Union High School guidance counselor.
Wagel also chairs the county Board of Public Works and is a director with the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC).
District 4
Democrats gained a seat with the election of Bill Steele, county Planning Commission chairman. Republican Alan Northrop of Marcellus currently occupies the seat.
District 5
Republican incumbent Gordon Bickel Sr., 76, of Constantine, a former Porter Township clerk, won his second term over Democrat Ernie Kurdys, 67, of Vandalia, 830-430.
Bickel is a retired dairy farmer. Kurdys, a political newcomer, retired from St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in South Bend, Ind.
District 6
Republican incumbent Jack Teter of Edwardsburg did not seek a second term, but the GOP kept the seat in its column.
Republican Charlie Arnold, 51, of Cassopolis, defeated Democrat Max Brown, 65, of Union, 468-415.
Arnold, who has no prior political experience, manages a warehouse in Elkhart, Ind.
Brown farms since retiring from Bayer Corp. in Elkhart.
District 7
Democratic incumbent David Taylor, 68, of Edwardsburg appeared to withstand a close race with Republican Harry Stemple, 561-553.
Taylor, an attorney, has served two terms on the commission and challenged U.S. Rep. Fred Upton in 1994.
Stemple, 60, served 10 years on Edwardsburg Village Council, is a member of the county Economic Development Corp. and is employed as a Realtor with ReMax Shore Acres, Cassopolis.
District 8
Republican Carl Higley Sr., 77, survived a challenge by Democrat Tony Catanzarite, also of Edwardsburg, 685-473. The district covers parts of Ontwa, Howard and Jefferson townships.
District 10
Republican incumbent Dixie Ann File, 63, of Kelsey Lake Street, Cassopolis, retained her seat, 555-421, winning a third two-year term over Democrat Steve Saltzman, 55, of Dutch Settlement Street.
Saltzman, owner of Eastgate Shopping Center, is a former Dowagiac resident.
File, a Union Realtor, was first elected in 2002.
District 13
Democrat Johnie Rodebush, 84, of Howard Township, Niles, withstood a challenge from Republican Cheryl Fortuna, 39, of Cassopolis. The political newcomer co-owns Fortuna Excavating in Dowagiac and Cassopolis with her husband, Joseph.
Rodebush, a retired iron worker, has been a commissioner for 34 years and is a past president of the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC), a past county board chairman and a former congressional candidate. Rodebush won 626 to 509.
District 14
In a rematch of the 2004 election, Democrat Debbie Ann Johnson, 49, of Niles, defeated Republican incumbent Dale Lowe, 70, of Niles, who bested her two years ago after she was a commissioner in 2003-04. Johnson is a paraprofessional for the Niles Community Schools.
Lowe, who spent two years on the county board, retired from Tyler Refrigeration Co. in Niles.
District 15
Republican incumbent Robert Ziliak, 58, of U.S. 12 East, Niles, withstood a challenge from Democrat Dwane West, 43, of Sullivan Avenue, Niles, to gain his third term. Ziliak outpolled West, 760 to 542.
Ziliak works for an axle company in Indiana. West owns a construction company.