City Council Candidates Reflect on Race, Look Ahead

For the three first-time candidates who worked all summer to move forward in the , Wednesday morning was a time to say thank you and prepare for the general election on Nov. 8.

And candidate , who finished third and won't be on the ballot in November, said he was looking forward to staying involved in the issues and helping the city move forward.

"I'm not disappearing form Rochester Hills — I still live in the city," Kotubey said.

"At the end of the day, I look back and can say I knocked on 2,019 doors. I left hand-written notes if a person wasn't home. I met some great people."

Kotubey received 261 votes in the Tuesday primary election. led the votes with 1,018. He will face , who received 867 votes, in the general election.

Kochenderfer expressed his excitement about the campaign season ahead.

"We really enjoyed the primary season, going door-to-door and seeing how pleased people were with living here — that was the best part," Kochenderfer said.

He said his message would not change and he pledged to run an issue-based campaign.

"At the end of the day, I want to keep making sure Rochester Hills is a great place to raise a family," he said.

For Puscas, the past week has been a whirlwind. Not only did she lead a successful campaign, she participated in a milestone family event last weekend: her youngest son was married Friday night in Indiana.

On Wednesday morning, she thanked her supporters.

"I'm definitely excited to be moving into the general election," she said. "It was such a wonderful process in so many ways. Going door-to-door, you find that people are so positive."

Puscas said a problem with a campaign mailing that never reached mailboxes as intended on Monday was a setback. Still, she said she was encouraged by placing a close second in the race.

"My message won't change. The whole reason I ran was to bring checks and balances to our city council."

Kotubey congratulated both candidates. While he said he would not be publicly endorsing either Puscas or Kochenderfer, he did praise Kochendefer for running what he called a "classy, clean campaign."