Benner, Walz, Mogdis Win City Primaries

City Council primary elections in the city's Fourth and Fifth Wards went about as expected yesterday as the "unofficial" choices of party leadership were given eitizen support at the polls. The tightest race occurred in the Republican primary in the Fourth Ward where Bruce Benner Jr. defeated two opponents - Charles Frank and Sarah R. Steingold. Benner received 50.5 per cent of the votes cast while Frank, an Eastern ? y - &LBCT Michigan University student, made a respectable showing in capturing 32.4 per cent of the ballots. Mrs. Steingold was given the remaining 17.1 per cent of the votes. Mrs. Mona L. Walz took 60.4 per cent of the votes to defeat William B. Everett for the Fourth Ward Democratie nomination, while Franz Mogdis had little trouble in fending off Augustine J. Lalonde for the Fifth Ward Democratie nod. Benner will face Mrs. Walz in the April 3 election while Mogdis will be seeking to unseat incumbent Republican Lloyd Fairbanks in the Fifth Ward. Running unopposed, Fairbanks received 925 votes. Unofficial vote totals show Benner with 1,200, Frank with 771 and Mrs. Steingold with 402 in the Fourth Ward GOP race, while Mrs. Walz tallied 863 votes to 566 for Everett in that ward's Democratie primary. Mogdis was given 1,036 votes to 372 for Lalonde in the Fifth Ward Democratie runoff. Benner won six of the eight precincts in the Fourth Ward with the other two going to Frank, while Mrs. Walz captured seven of the eight precincts, and Mogdis won all seven precincts in the Fifth Ward. The primary elections in the Fourth and Fifth Wards boosted the voter turnout for the special election on the income tax advisory vote. Some 37.2 per cent of the 10,609 registered voters in the Fourth Ward went to the polls yesterday while 31 per cent of 8,931 registered in the Fifth Ward cast ballots. Citywide, the turnout for the primary and special elections was only 25.5 per cent. There were no primary contests on the city's three east - side wards. The April 3 election wiil see incumbent Democrat John Kirscht seeking reelection in the First Ward against Republican Robert Foster, while Republican Thomas Burnham will face Democrat Michael Morris in the Second Ward, and the Third Ward race will see crat Ulrich Stoll facing Republican C. William Colburn. Also appearing on the April ballot will be the new Human Rights Party. Jerry DeGrieck will be the First Ward candidate, Nancy Wechsler will be in the Second Ward, Genie Plamondon in the Third, David Black in the Fourth, and Nancy R. Burkhardt in the Fifth. Republicans currently hold a 6-to-5 edge on City Council and to retain thisj margin must win four of the five seats in April.