Rabhi, Smith Secure County Board Wins

Rabhi's margin of victory: 1 vote

Yousef Rabhi outpolled three rivals to gain the Democratic primary win for the Washtenaw County board of commissioners District 11 seat, according to unofficial results from the county clerk’s office. He received just one more vote than his closest competitor, Mike Fried.

In District 10, incumbent Democrat Conan Smith defeated challenger Danielle Mack, taking 66% (2,563) of the votes.

There are four districts on the county board that represent parts of Ann Arbor. In the other two districts – 8 and 9 – incumbent Democrats Barbara Bergman and Leah Gunn were unopposed in the primary.

The most competitive race was in District 11, a seat now held by Jeff Irwin, who defeated Ned Staebler to win the Democratic nomination for state House District 53. There were four Democrats in that primary race: Rabhi, Fried, Alice Ralph and LuAnne Bullington. Rabhi secured 998 votes (41.81%) to Fried’s 997 (41.77%). Ralph and Bullington trailed considerably, with 281 and 108 votes, respectively. Assuming that Rabhi prevails in a possible recounting of the vote, he will face Republican Joe Baublis in November – he was unopposed in the Aug. 3 primary.

Smith will be unopposed in November. Gunn will face Republican Mark Tipping, while Bergman will face off against Republican Melinda Day. Both Day and Tipping were unopposed in the Aug. 3 primary.

The breakdown by precinct for the District 11 Democratic county board of commissioners is:

Precinct        Bullington   Fried   Rabhi  Ralph
Ann Arbor 1-1         0        5      16      2
Ann Arbor 1-2         0        0       4      4
Ann Arbor 2-3         4       39      29      4
Ann Arbor 2-4         7      121      54     21
Ann Arbor 2-5        12      162      84     32
Ann Arbor 3-1         1        0      23      1
Ann Arbor 3-2         2       17      39     29
Ann Arbor 3-3        26      234     241     87
Ann Arbor 3-4        19      167     116     28
Ann Arbor 3-7        13      143     161     27
Ann Arbor 3-8        17       92     192     39
Ann Arbor 4-1         0        0       8      2
Ann Arbor 4-2         0        1       9      0
Ann Arbor 4-3         0        3       2      1
Ann Arbor 5-1         2        3      14      2
Ann Arbor Twp Pct2    5       10       6      2

Total               108      997     998    281

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The breakdown by precinct for the District 10 Democratic county board of commissioners race:

Precinct            Mack      Smith
Ann Arbor 1-4        52         93
Ann Arbor 1-5        62        182
Ann Arbor 1-8        88        210
Ann Arbor 1-10      124        192
Ann Arbor 4-2        15         16
Ann Arbor 5-1        17         16
Ann Arbor 5-2       121        230
Ann Arbor 5-3        66        125
Ann Arbor 5-4       110        295
Ann Arbor 5-5        77        159
Ann Arbor 5-6        94        181
Ann Arbor 5-8        64        101
Ann Arbor 5-9       114        211
Ann Arbor 5-10       93        158
Ann Arbor 5-11      168        363
Ann Arbor Twp Pct 1  16         30
Scio Twp Prct 9       3          1

Total              1,284     2,563

10 Comments

  1. By Mark Koroi
    August 4, 2010 at 1:47 pm | permalink

    Congrats to Yousef Rabhi.

    Good to see a student elected to the County Commission.

    Jeff Irwin, to my recollection was also a student at U-M when he first got elected to this seat.

  2. By Leah Gunn
    August 4, 2010 at 1:48 pm | permalink

    Yes, Jeff was a student, and, in fact graduated during his first term. I remember decorating his chair with blue and gold crepe paper streamers. He will be an outstanding State Rep. And congratulations to Youseff.

  3. By MEM
    August 4, 2010 at 8:33 pm | permalink

    Thank you, Leah, for the poignant reminder that Jeff Irwin is basically a career politician.

  4. By Dr Data
    August 4, 2010 at 10:19 pm | permalink

    Well, let’s see Staebler is from a political family and works at MEDC running a program Larry Summers called crony capitalism. Whatever Summers said, it sure seems like connected folks are always leading MEDC. Nice job, results not always tangible.

  5. By Leah Gunn
    August 4, 2010 at 11:26 pm | permalink

    If Jeff is a “career plitician” – then so am I. I am proud to say that I have been active in local politics for forty years, helping to elect great candidates such as Jeff Irwin.

    I hardly think earning $15,000 a year for working your butt off for the people amounts to being a “career politician” – but if taht is what you would call us, I wear the description with honor.

  6. By ken schwartz
    August 5, 2010 at 3:07 pm | permalink

    Leah,

    Its more like $14,000 per year. Don’t give Jeff a raise.

  7. August 5, 2010 at 5:46 pm | permalink

    I believe that is $15,500 per year, unless the BOC recently took action to reduce it. Some officers are paid more.

  8. By Mary Morgan
    August 5, 2010 at 8:57 pm | permalink

    The chair of the county board of commissioners (Rolland Sizemore Jr.) makes $18,500 annually. The board vice chair (Mark Ouimet) earns $16,000. The chair of the board’s Ways & Means Committee (Conan Smith) makes $16,500, as does the chair of the working session (Jessica Ping). All other commissioners make $15,500.

  9. By Jack F
    August 6, 2010 at 7:38 am | permalink

    “I hardly think earning $15,000 a year for working your butt off for the people amounts to being a “career politician” – but if taht is what you would call us, I wear the description with honor.”

    Lol, great attitude there Leah. I thought it was called ‘serving the people’ but guess you see it different.

  10. By Anne Remley
    August 8, 2010 at 4:57 pm | permalink

    Yousef Rabhi will make a fine county commissioner. Terrific energy, fresh ideas, just what the county board needs right now. Congrats, Yousef.