Your Early Guide to the 2012 Elections in Bloomfield

As we look ahead to the upcoming August and November elections, Bloomfield Patch is committed to provide the information you need about every race impacting the Bloomfield area. Here are five races and local candidates that we know you're already talking about:

Cranbrook Graduates Take the White House?

Both President Barack Obama and Challenger Mitt Romney have called their upcoming contest in November the most important election in the nation's history. Easy for them to say, but it certainly will have many implications. Including locally, where if Romney, the GOP's presumptive nominee, wins he and wife Ann will be the first graduates to occupy the White House.

Romney , and Obama's taken notice also, making repeat trips to Michigan to muster support, including a recent visit to the for a million-dollar fundraiser. Will Bloomfield be the only town in the country to boast having the president and first lady grow up here?

40th District State House Seat

The field for the Republican Party candidate to represent the Bloomfield area in the State House is crowded and the race is heating up just in time for the Aug. 7 primary. Among them is Bloomfield Hills City Commissioner

David Potts, an Oakland County Commissioner and Birmingham-based attorney that grew up in Bloomfield Township is also . Both current office-holders seek the open seat to replace term-limited Rep. Chuck Moss (R-Birmingham), along with Birmingham Board of Education Trustee Robert Lawrence and West Bloomfield attorney .

Millage Mania

Tax-weary Bloomfield Township voters that just got over the $59 million Bloomfield Hills Schools bond vote for high school consolidation in May should get ready. On Aug. 7, they will be asked

The good news? The renewal is for 10 years. The bad news? Local voters face another tax vote and will have to weigh a bond proposal to support the Detroit Institute of Arts.

11th Congressional District

With the implosion of incumbent U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's re-election campaign following a and a petition-signature scandal, the newly-drawn congressional district impacting the Bloomfield area is up for grabs. Currently, the only Republican that will appear on the Aug.7 ballot is Kerry Bentivolio, a Tea Party activist from Milford. The party, however, is backing former State Sen. Nancy Cassis' bid to win with a write-in vote.

"For the Republican party to be successful in all areas this year, there needs to be a marriage between the Tea Party supporters and the Republican Party establishment, and they're not even dating right now," observed Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine when asked about the race.

Locals Seek the Black Robe

Open seats in the Oakland County Circuit Court don't occur very often, and multiple Bloomfield-area attorneys are competing for one to be decided by fall.

and Layne Ashley Sakwa are among the candidate field to fill the seat vacated by Circuit Judge Edward Sosnick's retirement. Also in the mix are and .