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Aug. 11, 2026 ~ Many small communities across Michigan are struggling to find local leaders willing to step into key government roles. Ron French of Bridge Michigan explains what’s driving the leadership shortage and what it could mean for the future of rural towns.
MIICHIGAN ~ Some rural communities with tiny populations in Michigan are struggling to fill local government roles to fulfill mandated township responsibilities. The question remains about how to address their leadership droughts.
According to an article from Bridge Michigan, a recent University of Michigan survey found that about 75% of Michigan townships and villages struggle to find people to run for elected positions that fulfill roles such as collecting property taxes and running elections. With mandated township services largely unchanged since Civil War times, some township officials in places like Houghton Township in the Upper Peninsula are considering merging or dissolving their townships, though the last occurrence of this in Michigan was in the 1980s.
“When you get into some of the rural areas, these are sparsely populated,” Bridge reporter Ron French told WJR. “One of the townships that I feature in these stories, the total number of residents in the whole township is 72… Our laws mandate that for the township supervisor, clerk, and treasurer all have to be residents of the township. In some of these townships, you basically have senior citizens sort of trading off these jobs, like, ‘Well, you do it this time because I’m tired.’”
Beyond the aging and waning population in rural Michigan communities, French also points out that local government roles have gotten more stressful in recent years. Clerks, for instance, now have to tend to early elections due to recent changes in state election laws, and deal with angry residents due to the spread of election conspiracies. Local officials could also face backlash from residents in areas where data centers are moving in, further souring people on joining local leadership.
The Michigan Legislature could offset some or all of these responsibilities from townships, which Indiana and Illinois are in the process of doing. However, there is little movement in Michigan to do the same.
