Former commissioner defeats incumbent in primary race for Kent County 17th District seat

GRAND RPAIDS, MI – A former Kent County commissioner will have the chance to reclaim his old seat on the Kent County Board of Commissioners this fall, after he defeated the incumbent candidate in the Democratic primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Former commissioner Robert Womack, who previously served three terms on the board, beat incumbent Tony Baker in the Democratic primary for the county board’s 17th District seat on Tuesday, according to unofficial election results from the Kent County Clerk’s Office.

Womack won the Democratic primary on Tuesday with 2,056 votes, or 56.01% of the vote, while Baker earned 1,598 votes, or 43.53%. All 12 precincts were reported by 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, but primary election results are considered unofficial until they are certified.

Womack will now go on to face Republican candidate Jason Gillikin, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary, in the Nov. 5 general election. Gillikin is a small business owner who works as a principal consultant at Gillikin & Associates, Inc.

He is the CEO of radio station 102.5 FM The Ride and a co-chair of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Black Leadership Advisory Council.

Baker was elected to the Kent County Board of Commissioners in 2022 after running for Womack’s open seat.

Kent County’s 17th District seat represents a large portion of Grand Rapids’ southeast side. County commissioners are elected to four-year terms from districts across Kent County that are roughly equal in population. Terms were previously two years, but a change in state law lengthened them.

Womack was first elected to the Kent County board in 2016 and served until 2022, when he narrowly lost a bid for the 82nd House District.