2016 Bay County Executive election

none January 2025 May 2024 2016 Bay County Executive election presidential no 2012 Bay County Executive election 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 Bay County Executive election 2020 Barciaheadshot.jpg James Barcia Democratic Party (United States) 37,507 97.75% Bay County Executive Thomas L. Hickner Democratic Party (United States) James Barcia Democratic Party (United States) The 2016 Bay County Executive election was held on November 8, 2016. Incumbent County Executive Thomas L. Hickner, who was first elected in 1992, ran for re-election to his seventh term. He was challenged in the Democratic primary by former Congressman James Barcia. Barcia ultimately defeated Hickner in the primary by a wide margin, winning 56 percent of the vote to Hickner's 38 percent, and was unopposed in the general election. Democratic primary Candidates James Barcia, former Congressman, former State SenatorHughes Clark Former congressman launches bid for county executive The Bay City Times April 1, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A2 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175564571/ June 29, 2025 Thomas L. Hickner, incumbent County Executive Mark McFarlin, perennial candidateWaterman Cole Mark McFarlin, former candidate for Michigan governor, files as Bay County sheriff candidate March 9, 2015 June 29, 2025 MLive https://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/2015/03/mark_mcfarlin_former_candidate.html Campaign Hickner ran for re-election to a seventh term, which he said would be his final term in office, emphasizing his managerial experience and plans to continue the county's positive economic development.Dodson Andrew Thomas Hickner points to 6 terms of experience in bid for county seat The Bay City Times July 26, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A5 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175892184/ July 4, 2025 He was challenged by former Congressman and State Senator James Barcia, who argued that "Bay County as a whole has lagged behind the growth the city has shown." Barcia said that people in the community had asked him to run based on his "state and federal legislative experience, my contacts and my knowledge of the state programs and appropriations process," and said that he would be a "visible and engaged" executive.Dodson Andrew Jim Barcia leans on political acumen in county executive race The Bay City Times July 26, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A5 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175892352/ July 4, 2025 In the final month of the campaign, the race turned sharply negative. Barcia's personal Facebook account was hacked in July, and a pornographic image was sent out to his friends. He accused Hickner's campaign of being responsible, because his supporters "are the only ones with the motivation to send such an image." Hickner denied the allegations, saying, "The Barcia campaign has had numerous unfounded accusations against us, all of which have been unfounded."Dodson Andrew Hacked Facebook page sent porn image, executive candidate says The Bay City Times July 19, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A3 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175891646/ July 4, 2025 A subsequent investigation by the Michigan State Police concluded that the image was sent out by malware that "affect[ed] hundreds of thousands of people," but Barcia said that, after "consult[ing] an IT professional who told us we were actually hacked," he "[didn't] believe it was a random virus," and planned to request that the FBI investigate the incident.Dodson Andrew Malware to blame for illicit image sent to hundreds The Bay City Times July 19, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A12 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kalamazoo-gazette/175891842/ July 4, 2025 Hickner accused Barcia of hiding contributions amounting to $10,000 from a political action committee associated with former Republican State Senator Roger Kahn. Barcia, in turn, said that his campaign "had no intention of cashing those checks" and returned them to Kahn, which was why he did not report them on his campaign finance report. Hickner accused Barcia of lying, saying, "I think what happened is that their hands were caught in the cookie jar and this is their best shot at dealing with this by not accepting a check," pointing to Barcia's 2004 federal indictment for making illegal campaign contributions.Dodson Andrew Executive incumbent accuses opponent of hiding campaign funds The Bay City Times July 28, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A4 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175892649/ July 4, 2025 He also argued that Barcia had manipulatively used dated footage of former U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow to suggest that they had endorsed his campaign. Barcia's campaign published a video on Facebook and ran a similar advertisement on the local news that featured Levin and Stabenow praising him when he retired from Congress in 2003. Both Levin and Stabenow confirmed that they had not made endorsements in the race. Barcia apologized for any confusion, saying, "The point of the ad was to show that I've been a hardworking public servant for many years at the state and federal level," and that there was "no endorsement reference in the ad."Dodson Andrew Campaign ad catches U.S. senators by surprise; neither endorsing candidate The Bay City Times August 2, 2016 Bay City, Michigan A5 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bay-city-times/175892877/ July 4, 2025 Barcia ultimately defeated Hickner, winning 56 percent of the vote to Hickner's 38 percent, while perennial candidate Mark McFarlin received 6 percent. Results Democratic primary resultsBay County, Michigan Primary Election August 2, 2016 Statistics Bay County Clerk August 6, 2016 https://www.baycountymi.gov/Docs/Clerk/Past%20Election%20Results/2016/August%202,%202016%20Primary.pdf June 29, 2025 James Barcia Democratic Party (United States) 9,110 56.17% Thomas L. Hickner (inc.) Democratic Party (United States) 6,178 38.09% Mark McFarlin Democratic Party (United States) 909 5.60% Write-ins Democratic Party (United States) 21 0.13% 16,218 100.00% Republican primary Candidates No candidates filed for the Republican nomination. Results Republican primary results Write-ins Republican Party (United States) 185 100.00% 185 100.00% General election Results 2016 Bay County Executive electionBay County, Michigan General Election November 8, 2016 Statistics Bay County Clerk November 8, 2016 https://www.baycountymi.gov/Docs/Clerk/Past%20Election%20Results/2016/November%208,%202016%20General%20Election.pdf June 29, 2025 James Barcia Democratic Party (United States) 37,507 97.75% write-ins 862 2.25% 38,369 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) References Category:2016 United States county executive elections Category:2016 elections in Michigan Category:Bay County Executive elections