Seven candidates, including Mayor Paul Schloegel, run for three Marquette City Commission seats with housing the top issue

MARQUETTE, Mich. — Marquette voters will choose three of seven candidates for the City Commission on Nov. 3. The candidates are Margaret Brumm, Kevin Clegg, Mark Curran, Ross Johnson, Marcella Krupski, Matthew Luttenberger and Paul Schloegel, the city’s current mayor.

The commission’s seven members are elected citywide in nonpartisan races for three-year terms and choose the mayor and mayor pro tem from among themselves, League of Women Voters member Sandy Meyskens said at a candidate forum the league hosted Sept. 23 at Lakeview Arena’s Citizen’s Forum. All but Luttenberger attended, The Mining Journal reported.

Housing dominated the evening, according to the newspaper’s account:

• Curran, who owns a local property management company, said he has built more than 1,000 housing units in Marquette and wants to focus on housing for people earning $20 to $30 an hour. He said city bureaucracy adds about 30% to the cost of new housing and that zoning should be simplified and fees reduced.

• Schloegel cited more than 25 years on city boards and commissions and said the job is mostly about protecting the city’s finances and infrastructure. He said the planning commission has made the process easier and suggested working with the state and allowing higher-density housing.

• Krupski, who works in hospitality and as a musician, credited the current commission’s zoning changes and said she would back projects for middle- and low-income housing and advocate for sustainable tourism.

• Johnson said he wants to look for backlogs and waste in public works, pursue affordable housing grants and bring more concerts to Lakeview Arena.

• Clegg, a four-year planning commissioner who worked on the 2024 master plan, said the city has lost much of its 35-to-50 age group since 2010 and that the current code, which now allows duplexes and triplexes, needs more time. He said his focus would be responsible budgeting.

• Brumm said the city does not create housing and that bringing back light manufacturing and higher-wage jobs would help most. She said she would come to every meeting prepared and work to get information to the public.

Marquette ballots also include two seats on the Board of Light and Power, the city-owned utility’s governing board.

Monday, Oct. 19, was the last day to register to vote online or by mail. After that, residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency, through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Statewide early in-person voting runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, and polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can check their registration and see their sample ballot at Michigan.gov/Vote.

Updated Oct. 20, 2026: The Oct. 19 deadline to register to vote online or by mail has passed, so the voting details now say so. Residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency through 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Sources:
The Mining Journal, “LWV of Marquette County hosts Marquette City Commission candidate forum,” Sept. 25, 2026 (candidates, forum date and place, commission duties, candidate positions), https://www.miningjournal.net/news/front-page-news/2026/09/lwv-of-marquette-county-hosts-marquette-city-commission-candidate-forum/
League of Women Voters of Marquette County, “Current Elections,” https://lwvmqt.org/current-elections/
Michigan Department of State, “Absentee voting” and election calendar (registration, early voting and absentee deadlines), https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/absentee-voting
Photo: Tim Kiser, “Marquette City Hall with 1975 datestone, Marquette, Michigan, 2024-09-24-6347.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped; derivative under the same license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marquette_City_Hall_with_1975_datestone,_Marquette,_Michigan,_2024-09-24-6347.jpg

Upper Peninsula · Election 2026 coverage

Tags: Upper Peninsula · Election 2026 · Marquette · City Council · Elections · Housing