“It’s not over until it’s over.” — Yogi Berra
Yogi’s most 
famous quote can be applied to the Dorr Township elections this November because two independents, running with no party affiliation, and a familiar face from the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan have thrown their hats into the ring for trustee, challenging four Republicans who were regarded as unopposed after the Aug. 2 primary.
Another “no party affiliation” candidate will offer a challenge for the treasurer’s job.
The four filed before the July 26 deadline for candidates other than Democrats or Republicans. They include something old, something new, something borrowed, but nothing blue.
One familiar face is Christine Schwartz, who will seek a trustee’s position as a U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate. Schwartz ran for trustee in 2012, but lost to the four Republicans on the 
ballot. She was app
ointed deputy clerk by Clerk Brian Boot, but then was fired. She sought the township supervisor’s appointment after Tammy VanHaitsma resigned, but Jeff Miling was chosen.
Appointed to a seat on the Parks Board, she stepped down from that position in 2014, and this reporter speculated whether her political career was finished. The only time she had been elected was to a seat on the Hopkins Board of Education in the 1990s, when she served one four-year term.
Two candidates under the “No Party Affiliation” banner will be Gordon Lieffers and Barb Herbert. Lieffers served on the Dorr Township Planning Commission for 12 years, but was not reappointed in 2014 by Miling, who said he wasn’t “a good fit.” He also has run for trustee as a Republican, most recently in 2012. Herbert is a newcomer, but one of her Facebook pictures is of her and her family with Congressman Bill Huizenga.
Arianne Taylor will run against incumbent Republican Treasurer Jim Martin in November as an independent.
Only four Republican Party candidates filed for the four township trustee seats, three of them incumbents, including John Tuinstra, Dan Weber and Josh Otto. They will be joined on the GOP ticket by newcomer Terri Rios.
PHOTOS: Christine Schwartz Gordon Lieffers
Arianne Taylor Barb Herbert
