FeedsLowe, Plakas square off for court seat
Things appeared decisive Tuesday night for Judge Ron Lowe, the incumbent at the 35th District Court in Plymouth Township.
Lowe, 50, garnered the most votes—an unofficial total of 8,442—en route to a primary win for the judgeship. He shared that win with Northville resident Jim Plakas, who came in second with 4,185.
By 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, precincts from the five communities served by the court—Northville, Northville Township, Plymouth, Plymouth Township and Canton Township had reported the results
Lowe was first elected in 1994 and has won two more six-year terms since. This year marks the first time any incumbent judge at the court had been opposed, but name recognition and 12 years of experience helped Lowe overcome it in the primary.
Plakas, 38, lauded his experience arguing from both sides in the courtroom during his campaign. He is a member of the law firm Angelo Plakas and Associates, which is run by his father. The firm provides law services to the city of Westland where Jim Plakas is assistant city attorney. He’s also worked as a prosecutor and served for clients as a defense lawyer.
Like Plakas, candidate Brian Stacey said he would consider each case on its own merits and that his years as a lawyer made him a good fit for the position. Voters didn’t agree though: Stacey got a total of 2,607 votes, doing his best in Plymouth, where he came in second with 356 votes.
That last number typified another storyline in the primary: as expected, participation in the election was low. In Canton Township, only 7,729 out of 54,921 registered voters cast a ballot—a 14 percent turnout.
“It was a long day,” said an exhausted Phyllis Redfern, an employee at the Canton clerk’s office who worked to process the ballots until after 11 p.m. “We’ve been here since 6 a.m.”
She’ll get some respite until November, but the toughest part is beginning for Lowe and Plakas, who will look to expand their pool of supporters in the five communities. In the primary, Plakas came in behind Stacey in the City of Plymouth, where Stacey has had a long-running practice.
