TWISTS & TURNS

Republicans hoping to regain control over the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in 2020 may want to keep a close eye on district 5, which includes Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake Village, Sylvan Lake and portions of Waterford and West Bloomfield. Democrats gained control of the commission in 2018 for the first time in more than four decades when current Democratic commissioner Kristen Nelson beat former Republican incumbent Tom Berman. Berman, who lost the election by less than 500 votes, credited Nelson’s win to the blue wave that swept across the county in 2018, referring to his opponent as a “nameless and faceless ‘D’ on the ballot.” However, word has it that former state legislator Klint Kesto (R-West Bloomfield) is looking closely at the seat in 2020. Kesto, who ran and lost in a crowded 11th district congressional primary race after being term-limited in the state House, could do well in West Bloomfield’s 5th because it sits in his former 39th state House district.