In both Howell and Brighton, all City Council incumbents whose terms will be up this November have filed for re-election, but only in Brighton is there a challenger.

Howell Mayor Nick Proctor has filed for election to a second term. Proctor was first elected to the City Council in 2013, and then ran for, and was elected as, mayor two years later. No one else filed for the position as of Tuesday's 4pm filing deadline, which means that — barring a write-in campaign - Proctor is running unopposed for a second term. In Howell, the mayor is elected directly by the voting public, independent of the rest of City Council, while in nearby Brighton, the mayor is chosen every two years by the City Council. Also filing for re-election in Howell were incumbents Steve Manor, Bob Ellis and Mike Mulvahill. Their current terms, along with Proctor’s, expire in November of this year. However, in Howell and Brighton, the terms are staggered, and as such, some members’ terms don’t expire for another two years. The terms of Howell City Council Members Jan Lobur, Jeannette Ambrose and Randy Greene don’t expire until November of 2021. Since all of the Howell candidates, including Proctor, are running unopposed, there will be no primary in August.

In Brighton, incumbents Jim Muzzin - the current mayor - along with Mayor Pro Tem Shawn Pipoly, Jim Bohn and Susan Gardner, have filed nominating petitions for re-election to another term. Also filing was regular City Council candidate Susan (Walters) Bakhaus. Bakhaus last ran for council in the 2017 election, when she garnered 463 votes, finishing last among the five candidates and garnering 13% of the total votes cast. Muzzin is serving his fourth term as mayor. Since the mayor in Brighton is chosen by the City Council, the mayor for the next two years will be selected at the first City Council meeting following the November general election. The terms of Brighton City Council Members Kris Tobbe, Renee Pettengill and Jon Emaus do not expire until November of 2021. As in the case of Howell, due to the small number of candidates in Brighton, there will be no runoff in the August primary. (TT)