Ward 2 City Council Race Gets Started

Jane Lumm, an independent candidate who’s challenging three-term incumbent Democrat Stephen Rapundalo for a Ward 2 city council seat, launched her election bid in a press release on Sept. 15, by announcing members of her campaign committee.

Co-chairing the committee will be Leslie Morris and Ingrid Sheldon.

Morris served on the city council as a Democrat from 1977-83, and Sheldon served as mayor of Ann Arbor as a Republican from 1993-2000. They reflect the mix of support for Lumm from prominent members of both parties, who are cited in her press release.

Lumm’s press release counts the following prominent Democrats among her committee members or supporters: Robert Faber, Barbara Bach, Seth Hirshorn, Michael Morris, Thomas Wieder, David DeVarti, Doris Preston, Vivienne Armentrout, Peter Eckstein, Nancy Kaplan, David Cahill, Jack Eaton and Ethel Potts.

Among Lumm’s prominent Republican committee members or supporters, the press release notes: Peter Fink, Joe Upton, Mike Reid, David Kwan, Cliff Sheldon, Tom Bourque, Louis Belcher, Richard Hadler, Edward Hood, Jeanette Middleton, Jeffrey Harshe, Joe Fitzsimmons, Carey Jernigan, Nancy White and Barbara Bryant.

Party affiliations in the Ward 2 race this year are playing a non-standard role. Lumm herself served previously as a Republican on the city council from 1993-98. And although Rapundalo is seeking his fourth term as a Democrat on the council, in 2000 he ran for mayor of Ann Arbor as a Republican.

The Nov. 8, 2011 election is a little more than seven weeks away. There is no Republican candidate in Ward 2.