|
Michigan became a State
on April 20, 1836. The Clare County area was a wilderness community
and sparsely populated. Just prior to the Civil War (1861-1865),
Michigan politics was dominated by Republicans. Clare County did not
emerge as a county until 1868 after it became a lumber community.
The first elections in Clare County occurred in 1871. In those
early years in Clare County, politics was full of bribery and
corruption and could be quite chaotic.
At that time, Clare County followed the rest of Michigan’s lead
in politics and was dominated by the Republicans. It is unclear how
well the parties were organized but it appears that some organized
political party structures existed from the outset. Northern Clare
County leaned Democrat while southern Clare County leaned
Republican. However, it was clear that the Republicans had a hold
on Clare County politics though the Democrats kept up the fight
playing a bigger role in helping State candidates than local
candidates.
The first real breakthrough in local elections came for
Democrats in 1884. During that time the Democratic Party and the
Greenback Party is where dissenters went to vent their disagreement
with Republican officials. Neither party, though, was strong enough
to challenge the Republicans. However, in this election, the
Democratic Party and the Greenback Party joined forces reportedly
meeting in the same building but on different floors to choose their
nominees for local office. This coalition was fueled by the
perception that the Republican officials were corrupt. After
choosing the same candidates for office, those candidates were
referred to as the “Fusion Party” candidates in an attempt to
undermine their legitimacy. Yet, the “Fusion Party” candidates
for Sheriff and Prosecuting Attorney both won that year.
After the success of the 1884 elections, the Democratic
Party was in for a long draught in local politics. Clare County was
called a Republican stronghold for decades. However, after the
advent of the automobile and Unionized Labor, Clare County would
slowly change. Clare County Democrats could elect Democrats to
certain district offices like to the Board of Supervisors (today
called the County Board of Commissioners) primarily from districts
in Northern Clare County but electing someone to countywide office
would not occur again until 1976.
Without anyone noticing, Clare County had become
increasingly Democrat. Clare County has numerous lakes and streams
and many Detroit area Union Workers built vacation homes on or
around those lakes and streams, ultimately choosing to retire to
these vacation homes. Southern townships like Garfield, Surrey, and
Freeman became more Democratic without much of a change in the way
the area looked. So, Clare County was in for a shock in 1976 when a
contentious race for Sheriff took place that pitted the incumbent
Republican Sheriff against a Lieutenant Deputy fired by that Sheriff
after his Deputy announced his intentions to run on the Democratic
ticket against the Sheriff. In 1976, the Democrat won the election
after everyone said it was impossible and at a time when everyone
still called Clare County a Republican stronghold. Making matters
worse for the Republicans, the Democrat was cleared of any
wrongdoing in a lawsuit two days after he won the election and was
awarded back pay and benefits for being wrongfully terminated.
Democrats saw what was possible and began coming out in public and
declaring their allegiance to their party.
In 1980, the Democratic Sheriff was
re-elected in another hotly contested race and a Democratic
candidate ousted the incumbent Republican Prosecuting Attorney.
In 1976, there was one Democratic County Commissioner and in 1980
that number rose to three. In every election cycle since that
time, Clare County Democrats have dominated Clare County politics
and continues to do so today. Every major county office can be
won by a Democrat and the majority of the Board of Commissioners has
been Democratic for over a decade. The Clare County Democratic
Party is strong and actively fighting for the values of working men
and women, and it is proud of its history and contribution to the
betterment of Clare County.
By continuing to recruit loyal
activists and qualified candidates, the Clare County Democratic
Party is proudly looking forward to a bright and successful future.
|
