Rochester Election Guide: It's Not Too Early To Get You Ready to Vote

As we look ahead to August's primary and November's general elections, Rochester Patch is committed to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. 

Here's a look at the candidates and issues we'll be covering as the election days near.

As we gear up our election coverage, we're wondering: Which races are most important to you?

Congress

Because of Congressional redistricting after the 2010 Census, our Congressman, Democrat Gary Peters, will not be able to run again in the 9th District. In fact, Rochester and Rochester Hills are now broken into two Congressional districts.

• District 8: Mike Rogers, a Republican from Brighton, will seek another term in the Congressional district that now stretches from Lansing to Rochester and Rochester Hills. Republicans Brian Hetrick of Brighton and Vernon Molnar of Holly will try to unseat him. Democrat Lance Enderle of Lansing is also a candidate.
• District 11: This district covers the southwest corner of Rochester Hills. Kerry Bentivolio of Milford is the Republican candidate. Democrats William Roberts of Redford and Syed Taj of Canton will face each other in the primary. 

State leadership

• District 45: Incumbent Tom McMillin of Rochester Hills is the only Republican candidate for the post. Democrats Ted Golden, Joanna VanRaaphorst and Douglas Wilson are also candidates for the position, which represents Rochester and Rochester Hills. See  for a closer look at those two candidates. Stay tuned to Rochester Patch for continuous coverage as the election approaches. 

County leadership

• Oakland County Executive: L. Brooks Patterson will seek another term (See ). He will be challenged by Republican E. Wadsworth Sherrod III in the primary. is the Democratic candidate. 
• Oakland County Sheriff: Mike Bouchard will seek another term. He will be challenged by Republican James Stevens of Rochester Hills in the primary. Jane Felice Boudreau is the Democratic candidate.

• Oakland County Prosecutor: Mike Bishop, the Republican former Senate Majority Leader from Rochester, will challenge Democratic incumbent Jessica Cooper. 
• Oakland County Clerk: Democrat Lisa Brown of West Bloomfield will challenge Bill Bullard, the Republican incumbent.
• Oakland County Treasurer: Republican Marty Knollenberg will challenge Democrat Andy Meisner.
• Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner: Republican John McCulloch will seek another term. Democrats Mark Danowski and Jim Nash will face off in the primary.

County commissioners

Because of redistricting, Rochester and Rochester Hills now fall into two different County Commission districts. 

• District 11: This district covers the western half of Rochester Hills and Troy. Incumbent Robert Gosselin, a Republican from Troy, will face Democrat Louise Schilling of Troy.
• District 15: This district covers all of Rochester and the eastern half of Rochester Hills. Republican Jeff Matis of Rochester, an incumbent, is the only candidate running for this position.

Ballot questions

• Police funding: Voters in Rochester Hills will be asked to renew funding for police services. The ballot question specifically asks about a 1.2083 renewal and 2.5 additional mills for police services from the general fund. See .
• County questions: Voters will be asked to support .2 mills for the Oakland County Art Institute Authority and to renew .59 mills for the Oakland County Transportation Millage. 

The president

We'll cover the presidential race when it makes sense, locally, to do so. We'll update this page with coverage as we go.