Barnett challenging Miller for Ludington mayor seat. 

Barnett challenging Miller for Ludington mayor seat. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

Steve Miller

LUDINGTON — Mayor Steve Miller is being challenged for the mayoral position by Mark Barnett, former Ludington police chief. Miller and Barnett are the only two candidates for mayor. Miller will be concluding his first four-year term on Dec. 31 of this year. Because there are only two candidates, the position will be elected during the Nov. 8 general election. If there were more than two candidates, voters in the city would narrow the choices to two during the August primary election. 

Barnett retired in May 2020 after 19 years as Ludington police chief and after 43 years in law enforcement. Miller grew up in Ludington and moved away for several decades before returning in his retirement. 

Mark Barnett

Ludington has a manager-council form of government, meaning the city manager is appointed and is the administrator of the city, hired by the council. The mayor’s role is to preside over the six person council but is only allowed to vote in the case of a tie. 

Four other positions are up for election with no official challengers. In each case, the incumbent has turned in a petition to see re-election. Those positions include clerk, Deborah Luskin; second ward councilor, Kathy Winczewski; fourth ward councilor, Cheri Stibitz; and sixth ward councilor, Jack Bulger. Because there are no contested races, the election of those positions will take place on Nov. 8. 

MCP will post more in-depth interviews with the contested candidates in the near future.

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