It’s been less than a week since the filing deadline that set the races in motion for Leelanau County's forthcoming August primary election, but at least one county race is already looking clearer. Doug Rexroat, who currently serves on the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners as the representative for Leelanau’s third district, has reportedly withdrawn from the race. According to the county clerk’s office, Rexroat pulled his candidacy on Friday, April 26, just three days after the Tuesday, April 23 filing deadline.

Rexroat did not respond to the Leelanau Ticker's request for comment on his decision to call it quits on the commissioner race.

Rexroat’s exit leaves a open road to the November general election for both remaining District 3 candidates: Republican William Bunek and Democrat Lois Bahle. Both candidates have previously occupied that seat – Bunek for 14 years before he was recalled in May 2022, and Bahle for six months in 2022 after she beat Bunek in said recall election. Bunek faced a recall after he recommended zeroing out the early childhood services millage that Leelanau County voters had approved in 2019. Bahle ran for commission again in the fall of 2022, but lost the general election to Rexroat.

With no other Republicans or Democrats competing for the District 3 seat in the August primary, Bunek and Bahle are likely to get a rematch of the 2022 recall contest come November.