ALPENA — Alpena County voters picked incumbents Bill LaHaie, Lucille Bray, Bill Peterson, and Brenda Fournier and newcomer Griffin James to serve four-year terms on the county Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial results released early Wednesday.

James, who recently moved out of the district, is ineligible to serve District 2 on the county board, though his name remained on the ballot. It’ll be up to the county board to appoint someone after the start of the year to serve until the next regular election in 2026.

The winning candidates’ terms begin Jan. 1 and will be consequential as the county navigates steep cuts — including a likely half-million-dollar cut to the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office — to stave off deep deficits. Voters rejected a proposed tax hike that would have allowed the county to avoid the steepest cuts.

Those budget woes, along with the county board’s handling of controversial books at the county library, drew four write-in candidates into the race, creating competitive races in five of eight county board districts.

In District 1, which covers portions of Alpena, from 11th Avenue to State Avenue and Chisholm Street to Tuttle Street, Republican LaHaie won with 59% of the vote to independent Jeff Welch’s 32% and write-in candidate Stephanie Woytaszek’s 9%.

In District 2, which covers Alpena’s north side, from Chisholm at the Alpena hospital to the boat harbor, Republican James had 53% of the vote to Democrat Bob Adrian’s 47%.

In District 3, which covers the balance of Alpena, independent Bray had nearly 100% of the vote against write-in candidate JoAnne Pinkerton’s four votes.

In District 4, which covers Monaghan Point Road to U.S.-23 to Bloom Road and to M-32, Republican Peterson had 95% of the vote against write-in candidate Brian Perry’s 5%.

And in District 5, which covers Precincts 4 and 5 of Alpena Township, Fournier had 91% of the vote against write-in candidate Carol Ann Bobolts’ 9%.

District 6 candidate Todd Britton, District 7’s incumbent candidate Travis Konarzewski, and District 8’s incumbent candidate John Kozlowski, all Republicans, each ran unopposed on Tuesday and will reclaim their seats.