Coulter Keeps Ferndale Mayor's Seat, Winning Handily

Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter won the mayor's race Tuesday with nearly 85 percent of the vote against newcomer .

He beat out the less-experienced Willis by a 1,819-326 vote.

Coulter said he believes the large margin of victory had to do with his experience in governing. "I think people want experience and that experience is important to them," he said at his celebration party at .

Almost 14 percent of Ferndale's registered voters cast a ballot on Tuesday. The low turnout, however, isn't uncommon in a non-presidential or non-gubernatorial race. In 2009, only 15 percent of the registered voters came out for a similar election.

Coulter was after the former mayor Craig Covey won his election bid for the 25th District of the Oakland County Commission, a seat  Coulter had held.

Over the past year, Coulter had a hand in balancing two budgets -- fiscal year ending 2011 and 2012 -- using a system he brought over to Ferndale from Oakland County. He helped Ferndale pass a , hired an interim city manager then a permanent city manager, and is working on potential collaborations with neighboring cities, including a and the consolidation of .

"A year from now, I'd like to see more collaboration with our neighbors," he said. "I feel we have five years to reinvent how we raise revenue and work with our neighbors. We're studying a fire authority with Hazel Park, we'll be talking with Pleasant Ridge on the fire contract, I hope to start talks with Oak Park as well. We have to figure out how to offer the same services in other ways."

88 percent of the vote

With such a large margin of victory, one might think the election was in the bag, but Coulter never looked at it that way.

"I take every campaign seriously," he said. "I was told I was going to be a shoo-in, but I would never expect that. I have a respect for the job and I would never take the job or the voters for granted."

Along with Coulter winning the election, incumbent Mike Lennon holds on to his seat and newcomer Dan Martin wins the other seat on Ferndale's City Council. Sherry Wells lost by about 350 votes. Read about the council winners .

Mayoral election results:

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Check out Ferndale Patch's coverage of Tuesday's election .