David Rutledge earns Democratic nomination in Michigan's 54th District state House primary

David Rutledge

With all precincts reporting, unofficial results show Rutledge, who also serves on the Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees, pulled ahead of all five his Democratic opponents with 2,693 votes (38 percent). That topped his closest opponent, Lonnie Scott, who had 2,175 votes (31 percent).

Bill Riney placed third with 924 votes (13 percent). Michael White had 680 (10 percent), Edison Hubert had 372 (5 percent) and Dave Franklin had 267 (4 percent).

On the Republican side of the ticket, Richard Deitering squeaked by with 52 percent of the GOP vote, beating Rodney Nanney, 2,340 to 2,145.

That means Deitering and Rutledge will face off in November alongside independent candidate David Palmer.

The 54th District includes the city of Ypsilanti and Augusta, Salem, Superior and Ypsilanti townships in Washtenaw County.

Smith, D-Salem Township, who currently holds the seat, is term-limited from running again and was backing Scott, who currently serves as her legislative aide.

Scott said he called Rutledge to congratulate him.

"I think that we ran a very strong campaign and I'm proud of all the work that we were able to put in," Scott said. "Unfortunately in a six-way primary, anything can happen. So I congratulated Mr. Rutledge and told him that I look forward to working with him as he moves toward the November election."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.