Two incumbents and four first-time candidates chase three Port Huron council seats on Nov. 3

PORT HURON, Mich. — Port Huron voters will fill three of the six City Council seats on Nov. 3, and at least one will go to a newcomer. Councilmember Conrad Haremza is not running again, leaving incumbents Bob Mosurak and Jeff Pemberton to face four challengers who have never held elected office.

The St. Clair County Clerk’s unofficial candidate list shows six nonpartisan candidates for the three four-year terms: Jack K. Belyea, Gregg DeVoogd, Brian Farquhar, Amir McDuffie, Robert L. Mosurak and Jeff Pemberton. Council members are elected citywide, not by ward, according to the city.

The same ballot carries a three-way race for the two-year mayor’s term among incumbent Anita Ashford, Alan Lewandowski and Tim McCulloch, the Port Huron Times Herald reported after the July 21 filing deadline. The council seats held by Mayor Pro Tem Sherry Archibald and members Teri Lamb and Barbara Payton are next up in 2028.

Housing came up with every candidate in interviews the Times Herald published Wednesday, though they disagreed about how much City Hall should do. DeVoogd, an Army veteran who owns a promotional-products business and rents out homes, said taxes, inspection fees and other costs the city controls are passed through to tenants. Belyea wants another look at the zoning code and rental rules, done in partnership with landlords and builders.

McDuffie favors zoning that would allow more duplexes, triplexes and accessory units. Farquhar backed more housing but warned against letting rentals take over neighborhoods. The incumbents pointed to work already in motion: Mosurak, who runs a home-repair company, wants to see Lincoln Lofts and River District development through, and Pemberton singled out housing for middle-income workers.

Streets drew a narrower debate. Mosurak raised concerns about e-bikes moving fast on downtown sidewalks, and Belyea and McDuffie called for painted crosswalks. Pemberton said he supports safer biking and walking but doubts that fully barricaded bike lanes are practical across the city. DeVoogd was skeptical of a few newer road layouts and wants fixing existing pavement kept near the top of the list.

The sharpest differences were about accountability. DeVoogd has made transparency the center of his campaign, pledging to be “an open book” whenever the law lets him share what the city is deciding. Farquhar, who owns a moving and repair company and lost a council bid in 2024, described the way City Hall communicates as “disheveled.” Pemberton, in his eighth year on the council, said he works well with City Manager James Freed and most colleagues but not with Ashford, the newspaper reported.

Belyea, 68, retired in 2025 after nearly five decades at what is now McLaren Port Huron, much of it running the hospital’s facilities. McDuffie, 19, a 2025 Port Huron High School graduate who works at the YMCA, told the Times Herald he moved his studies to St. Clair County Community College to make a council campaign possible without leaving school.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Voters can check their registration, find their polling place and view a sample ballot through the Michigan Voter Information Center.

Sources:
St. Clair County Clerk, Unofficial Candidate List for November 2026 (City of Port Huron, City Council), https://stclaircountyclerk.org/Public/File/november_2026_candidate_list_pdf
Port Huron Times Herald, “Who is running for Port Huron City Council? Meet the 6 candidates,” Oct. 7, 2026, https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2026/10/07/six-candidates-seek-three-port-huron-city-council-seats-in-nov-3-election-michigan/92102399007/
Port Huron Times Herald, “See who is running for Port Huron mayor, council in November,” July 22, 2026, https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/port-huron/2026/07/22/port-huron-michigan-candidate-field-set-for-nov-3-general-election/91010080007/
City of Port Huron, City Council, https://www.porthuron.org/government/city_council.php
Michigan Voter Information Center, https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/
Image: AI-generated illustration by The Mitten Daily.

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