Dimas, Stone advance after Warren mayoral primary

WARREN — George L. Dimas and Lori M. Stone were the two top vote-getters in Warren’s Aug. 8 mayoral primary election, setting up a November contest without an incumbent mayor for the first time in 16 years.

Dimas is an appointee of current Warren Mayor James Fouts, serving as the city’s human resources director. He previously served 32 years on the City Council from 1971 to 2003.

Stone, a career educator, is currently a state representative for Michigan’s 13th House District. She’s now serving her third two-year term and was first elected in 2018.    

According to the election results posted by the office of Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, Dimas received 6,200 votes, or 33.7% of the total votes cast. Stone came in second with 5,093 (27.7%).

“I am looking forward to the fall campaign. I am going to work very, very hard and reach out to the people,” Dimas said Aug. 9.

“Civility” and “leadership” are what Dimas said he would bring to the mayor’s office.

“Bring some strong leadership to our community, to get it back on track. Because I think it has been derailed the last four years,” said Dimas. “It has been a setback. So I want to work together with the new council, and have better civility in government.”

This echoes what Dimas said voters want to see.

“They wanted to see some civility in (the) government. They were upset with all of the fighting and all of the lawsuits. They were upset with the confrontation between the administration and the council,” Dimas said. “They wanted to see their government working toward the betterment of their community. They would like to see the parks improved.”

Attempts to reach Stone on Aug. 9 were unsuccessful at the time of publishing. However, according to her candidate profile in the Warren Weekly’s 2023 primary election voter guide, Stone identified her top goals as, “Improving trust in local government through transparency, accountability, communication, and including residents’ voices in decision making.”

In her submitted profile, Stone stated, “I commit to working together with the City Council, local leaders and residents in order to improve the quality of life for everyone.” She further identified her goals as “Securing federal and state grant dollars that Warren has failed to apply for in order to fund projects like park improvements, senior services, public safety and economic development.”

“Warren can lead on environmental and climate sustainability initiatives,” Stone said in the profile.

Warren’s remaining four mayoral candidates are now out of contention for the race in November.

Warren City Council President Patrick Green finished third in the mayoral primary with 4,856 votes (26.4%). Macomb County Commissioner Michelle Nard finished fourth with 976 votes (5.3%). Former Warren City Councilman Scott Stevens (764 votes, 4.2%) and Alfonso King (520 votes, 2.8%) finished fifth and sixth.   

Warren’s general election will be held Nov. 8.