It appears incumbent Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III will keep his job for another four-year term.
Dunnings was cautiously optimistic at about 11:30 p.m. With only 14 percent of precincts reporting, he held 68.9 percent of the vote compared to his opponent Peter DeRose’s 31.1 percent.
“You don’t have the votes until the votes are counted and right now there are very few precincts reporting,” Dunnings said. “I deal with facts on a day-to-day basis, and we won’t really know those ’til morning.”
DeRose could not be reached for comment.
Dunnings has held the position for the last four years and was a practicing attorney for 17 years before being elected to the position.
Dunnings said he knows the dangers of being too sure of himself. Four years ago his opponent prematurely announced victory over Dunnings only to have to take it back when more precincts reported.
“You learn from something like that,” he said. “I’ve been anxious all day, but you can’t take anything for granted, at least I can’t.
“But the people who really know about these things have been pretty confident I would win all along.”
Dunnings and his volunteers stopped campaigning Monday because he said he had to get back to work.
“The criminals aren’t going to take the day off so I can’t either,” he said.
After work he attended a rally with Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth to thank the volunteers who had worked hard throughout the course of their respective campaigns. Then he headed home to watch the final results and get some sleep.
SARA LUNEBURG
