The Ann Arbor Chronicle » 2012 election

Outgoing UM Regents Attend Last Board Meeting

Chronicle Staff — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:21:39 +0000

Two outgoing University of Michigan regents – Martin Taylor and Libby Maynard – were recognized at the board’s Dec. 13, 2012 meeting, the last one of their 16-year tenure. The two Democrats did not seek reelection this year. They will be replaced by Democrats Mark Bernstein of Ann Arbor and Shauna Ryder Diggs of Detroit, who is Taylor’s daughter-in-law. Bernstein and Diggs were the top two vote-getters in a statewide election for the regents’ seats on Nov. 6.

Regent Julia Darlow read a resolution of appreciation for Maynard, a Flint-area resident and alumna of the School of Social Work. The resolution cited Maynard’s “strong support for the University’s affirmative action efforts, women’s and gender equity issues, and initiatives to increase the diversity of students and faculty.”

Board chair Larry Deitch read the resolution of appreciation for Taylor of Grosse Pointe Farms, likening their relationship to that of Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes or Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.” Martin and I have had our moments,” Deitch joked, adding that it was more fun when they were on the same side. The resolution cited Taylor’s “stalwart commitment to the issues he values, including diversity in all of its forms, the safety of every member of the University community, the importance of intercollegiate athletics, and maintaining the excellence of our academic enterprise…”

Taylor joked that he was moved by so many students turning out to say goodbye to him. He was referring to a crowded room of students who were primarily there to protest two issues: (1) the university’s investments in HEI Hotels & Resorts, and (2) tuition inequality for undocumented students. Many supporters of the Coalition for Tuition Equality wore red tape over their mouths during the meeting, to represent how they are silenced by institutional discrimination.

Also recognized for her service was Nancy Asin, the long-time assistant secretary of the university who is retiring this year. Deitch thanked Asin for her “willingness to put up with BS” from the regents, calling her the glue that held the board together.

This report was filed from the Michigan Union’s Anderson room on UM’s central campus, where the regents held their December meeting.

Column: Mapping Ann Arbor’s 2012 Elections

Dave Askins — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:47:34 +0000

With the 2012 general elections well behind us, it’s time for politicians to put on their very serious faces and make very serious pronouncements like, “The voters have spoken.”

I prefer to make a funny face and ask: How is a judicial candidate like the city park system? Or for a question that sounds less like the set-up to a punch line: What’s the deal with downtown Ann Arbor and its connection to the art millage and the library bond proposal?

Voting results from two Nov. 6, 2012 proposals on the Ann Arbor ballot: The Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal and the public art millage. Maps do not include the portion of the library district outside the city boundary. Maps show only in-person votes, not including absentee voters. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no. (Maps by The Chronicle.)

Of course, politicians are at least partly right when they say that the voters have spoken. But what did the voters actually say? It’s easy to make true statements about voter sentiment – if you stick to the text of the ballot.

For example, in the non-incumbent race for judge of the 22nd Circuit Court, more voters preferred to have Carol Kuhnke decide future Washtenaw County court cases than to have Jim Fink decide them. You can tell that just from the ballot and from the results. But it’s possible to make a stronger claim: More voters preferred the kind of person Kuhnke is – a candidate endorsed by the city of Ann Arbor Democratic Party. And to support that claim, we’d need to look at other results, like those from the presidential election.

Or by way of another example, the election results indicate that a majority of Ann Arbor voters said they do not want the city to levy an 0.1 mill tax to pay for art in public places. That’s all you can tell from the ballot question and the results. To make stronger claims – related, for example, to what (if anything) voters were trying to say about the existing Percent for Art program – you’d need to find some other way to explore the content of voters’ minds.

The same goes for the Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal and the parks maintenance and capital improvements millage renewal. “Do not tax us to make the bond payments for a new downtown library building, but please continue to tax us to pay for city park needs.” That’s all voters said. They didn’t say anything about their favorite books, or which city park is the best. (By the way, it’s West Park, located in Ward 5, which is indisputably the highest-numbered ward in the city.)

Yet we’d like to divine something more from the results than just the results.

This column, which is heavy on impressionistic conclusions based on maps, and light on rigorous statistical analysis, begins with mapped illustrations of some basics. For example, mostly Democrats live in the eastern portion of Washtenaw County. And in Ann Arbor, Wards 2 and 4 are the strongest city wards for Republicans – even though those wards also lean Democratic. That’s still true 20 years after Ann Arbor’s ward boundaries were drawn to achieve that effect.

The column concludes by illustrating a possible geographic connection between the failed public art millage and the failed downtown library bond proposal – namely, downtown Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor City Ward Boundaries

The ward boundaries in the city of Ann Arbor underwent their last substantial revision in the early 1990s. The goal of the redistricting was to establish three heavily Democratic wards (1, 3 and 5), leaving two Republican-leaning wards (2 and 4). Comparing the ward boundaries in Map 1 and the results of the presidential race in Map 2, the ward-wise distribution of Democrats and Republicans has remained fairly stable. Except in the northwest precincts of Ward 4 – where the Ward 5 Democratic strength bleeds down into Ward 4 – the ward boundaries are reflected clearly in the presidential results.

Map 1: Ann Arbor ward boundaries.

Map 2: Ann Arbor 2012 presidential election results (in-person voting only.) Darker blue reflects greater strength for Democrat Barack Obama.

Judges, Dems, Parks

Judicial races are non-partisan. But in the non-incumbent race between Carol Kuhnke and Jim Fink, the local Democratic Party endorsed Kuhnke. And Fink himself, during a candidate forum hosted by the Democratic Party, acknowledged that if it were a partisan legislative race, ”you would not even think about voting for me.” So it was not a secret that Kuhnke was “the Democrat” and Fink “the Republican” in the race. Fink’s pitch to Democrats as voters was that he would follow the law and as a judge set aside his personal views. And in fact, several high-profile Democrats supported his campaign.

In Map 3, the results within the city of Ann Arbor show that support for Kuhnke shows a vaguely similar pattern to the presidential results. But it was not by any means an exact mirroring of the pattern of support received by the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. In fact, the geographic distribution of Kuhnke’s support within the city of Ann Arbor seems to resemble more closely support for the parks millage (Map 4) than it does support for Obama.

Map 3: Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor city results for 22nd Circuit Court non-incumbent judicial race (in-person voting results only). Darker blue areas reflect stronger support for Carol Kuhnke, who defeated Jim Fink.

Map 4: Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor city results for parks maintenance & capital improvements millage renewal (in-person voting results only). Darker green areas indicate greater support for the parks millage.

Countywide Judicial Race

Countywide, the race between Kuhnke and Fink (Map 6) also showed a roughly similar pattern to the presidential race (Map 5), but it was not by any stretch an exact mirroring.

Map 5: Washtenaw County presidential results for the Nov. 6, 2012 election. Blue shades indicate a majority for Democrat Barack Obama. Red shades indicate support for Republican Mitt Romney.

Map 6: Nov. 6, 2012 Washtenaw County results for 22nd Circuit Court non-incumbent judicial race. Blue shades indicate a majority for Carol Kuhnke. Red indicates support for Jim Fink.

So I think it’s fair to conclude that a substantial number of people voted for the kind of person that they perceived Kuhnke to be (a Democrat, with whatever associations that comes with) as contrasted with the kind of person they perceived Fink to be (a Republican, with whatever associations that comes with). But it’s also fair to conclude that many voters appealed to something other than the “party” in making their choice.

Art and the Library: Downtown Connection

I don’t think the geographic distribution of results in the presidential and judicial races is particularly surprising, even if they do make for pretty maps.

But the distribution of results within the city of Ann Arbor for the public art millage (Map 7) and the Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal (Map 8) reveals something interesting: One factor underlying voter sentiment on those two questions seems to be proximity to the downtown.

Both proposals drew their strongest support from areas near the geographic center of the city. Opposition was strongest in areas further away from the geographic center. For the library bond proposal, which would have funded construction of a new downtown library building, that’s not surprising. For the public art millage, it’s not as obvious that this should be the case.

One possible theory is that folks who live in or near downtown are just more “cosmopolitan” and “arty” and for that reason supported the millage. More plausible, I think, is the idea that greater support in the core areas really reflects less opposition – and that the opposition was based in part on the perception that the public art millage was all about only the downtown. That perception could be based on the fact that the two highest profile, most expensive, and most controversial pieces of public art produced by the city’s current Percent for Art program are located downtown: Herbert Dreiseitl’s fountain sculpture, and Ed Carpenter’s interior piece, both at the new Justice Center. [Carpenter's hanging sculpture has been commissioned, but not yet installed.]

Perhaps some of the votes against the public art millage might be seen as votes against a downtown-centric art program. The Ann Arbor public art commission has recently been working toward an approach that would be more geographically balanced – based on quadrants of the city. And a revision to the city’s public art ordinance that’s expected to be brought forward at the Nov. 19 city council meeting also has a geographic component. The proposed revision to the ordinance includes a requirement that councilmembers for the ward where a piece of art is proposed be notified of that proposal.

To the extent that the results on these two proposals reflect something about attitudes toward the downtown, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority should take notice. Part of the logic behind enacting a downtown development authority – with its ability to “capture” taxes of other jurisdictions – is to pay for investments in the downtown area that wouldn’t otherwise be made.

Those investments wouldn’t otherwise be made, because the downtown would likely lose every single time, if the use of those taxes were put through the regular budgeting process. That’s because voters in the periphery (who’ll vote like any voters at least partly in a self-interested way) outnumber those in the core. The enactment of a downtown development authority is a mechanism for enforcing the discipline of making infrastructure investments in the downtown, without subjecting them to the relatively volatile annual city budgeting process.

I think one of the minor lessons of the 2012 general election in Ann Arbor is that the case for investments in the downtown is not obvious to many voters, and will need to be made on an ongoing basis.

Map 7: Results of the Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor public art millage. Maps show only in-person votes, not including absentee voters. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no.

Map 8: Results for the Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal (in-person voting results only). Results from townships outside Ann Arbor are not included. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no.

Links to Maps

Links to the dynamic maps built by The Chronicle on geocommons.com:

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Column: Playing Politics – A Silly Game

John U. Bacon — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:58:41 +0000

John U. Bacon

Whether your candidates won or lost this week, we can all rejoice that it’s finally over. Or, we think it is. We can’t be sure anymore, can we?

Watching the political contests and the sporting contests this week, I got to thinking: Which is sillier: playing politics, or playing sports?

As silly as sports are – and I seem to devote half my commentaries to that very subject – after watching the 2012 campaigns, I can tell you, it’s not even close: Playing politics is sillier, in a landslide.

In the sporting world, you’re not supposed to badmouth your opponent, or even talk about them very much. Coaches always say, “I’m just focusing on my team.” And then – amazingly – that’s what they actually do.

In politics, badmouthing the other guy is just about all they do. And if there is any expectation of clean play anymore, I must’ve missed it – along with just about every single candidate.

In sports, you cannot blame the weather. The coaches’ cliché here goes like this: “Both teams played on the same field, didn’t they?” In politics, they start blaming the weather before they’ve even lost.

In sports, when a coach changes his strategy repeatedly, they don’t call him a flip-flopper. They call him a former coach. If only that were true in politics.

In sports, if you whine about the referees – no matter how bad they might be – they call you, well, a whiner. Which kind of makes sense. In politics, when they’re not badmouthing each other, they’re crying about Rush Limbaugh and Fox News on one side, and Ed Schultz and MSNBC on the other. But forget the refs. In politics, they can’t even agree on the score – or even when the game is over.

Football, hockey and even baseball have recently added instant replay to ensure they make the right call. Yes, the delays are annoying – but not as annoying as watching a candidate deliver whopper after whopper, only to hear the political pundits tell us they’re curious to see what the fact checkers will make of all that – in a few days. By then, of course, the lies have already circled the globe a few times.

Fact checkers? I’m old enough to remember what we used to call them: “Journalists.” If it’s not the pundit’s job to know what the facts are, what is his job? Is he just a game show host, who passes every tricky question to the “judges”? Wink Martindale can do that.

But the craziest difference between sports and politics is how they treat their audience. In sports, they want you to come see their team, and they make it easy. But in politics, after they bombard you with billions of dollars of ads to get you interested, they make you wait five hours to play. You know it’s bad when we look forward to ads about elections being replaced for ads about erections. (Remember, if your election lasts more than four years, consult your poll worker.)

When it comes to voting, forget comparing our election system to those of third world banana republics. Even the almost-defunct National Hockey League – currently on the verge of canceling another season – makes it easier to vote for the All-Star team than our government makes it to pick the leader of the free world.

Let that sink in.

We like to say sports teach us lessons we can use later in life – but that’s not true if you become a politician. Then, you take everything that sports taught you – and do the exact opposite: focus on your opponent, not your own game; deny reality, including the score; and after you lose, blame everyone – even the refs and the weather – before you blame yourself.

I dream of a day when we take politics as seriously as we take sports.

About the author: John U. Bacon is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football.” He also co-authored “A Legacy of Champions,” and provided commentary for “Black and Blue: The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward, and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Football Game.”

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Final Roundup: Ann Arbor Nov. 6 Election

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:23:39 +0000

Democrats gained ground in local elections on Tuesday, but two high-profile Ann Arbor ballot initiatives were defeated.

Campaign signs outside the polling location on Nov. 6 at Eberwhite Elementary School in Ann Arbor.

Voters rejected a public art millage and a $65 million bond proposal for a new downtown Ann Arbor District Library building. But renewal of a millage for park maintenance and capital improvements won overwhelming approval.

In countywide races, Carol Kuhnke of Ann Arbor defeated Jim Fink of Ypsilanti for a judgeship on the 22nd Circuit Court, replacing Melinda Morris, who is retiring. Incumbent judge Tim Connors retained his seat over challenger Mike Woodyard.

The Washtenaw County board of commissioners will see changes following Tuesday’s election. Incumbent Republican Rob Turner was defeated by Democrat Kent Martinez-Kratz, decreasing the number of Republicans on the nine-member board from three to two. Republican Alicia Ping won the District 3 seat over Democrat Wes Prater – the two incumbents faced each other due to redistricting that took effect with this election cycle. Other incumbents won their seats, as did Democrat Andy LaBarre, who secured his first term on the board.

Democrats prevailed in all local races for the Michigan House of Representatives, most notably with Gretchen Driskell – the current mayor of Saline – defeating incumbent Republican Mark Ouimet in District 52.

Details of these and other races are below. For complete election results throughout Washtenaw County, check the county clerk’s elections website.

Ann Arbor Library Bond Proposal Defeated

Two items on the Nov. 6 ballot related to the Ann Arbor District Library: a $65 million bond proposal for construction of a new downtown library, and the election of four positions on the AADL board of trustees.

The $65 million, 30-year bond proposal was rejected, gaining support from 33,604 voters (44.83%), with 41,359 votes (55.17%) cast against it. Support inside the city of Ann Arbor was slightly stronger, with 46.4% voting for the proposal compared with 41.2% voting for it outside the city. In addition to the city of Ann Arbor, the district includes parts of the townships of Pittsfield, Scio, Ann Arbor, Lodi, Webster, Salem and Superior.

The funds would have paid for the demolition of the existing library at 343 S. Fifth and the construction of a new building on that same site. Four campaign committees had formed, including three that opposed the project: Protect Our Libraries, Save the Ann Arbor Library and LOL=Love Our Library. The Our New Downtown Library campaign led by Ellie Serras supported the proposal.

In the nonpartisan AADL board elections, five candidates contested four open seats for four-year terms. The top four vote-getters were all incumbents: Nancy Kaplan (30,508 votes – 23.14%); Margaret Leary (28,060 votes – 21.29%); Rebecca Head (26,827 votes – 20.35%); and Pru Rosenthal (23,498 votes – 17.82%). Challenger Lyn Davidge received 21,670 votes (16.44%). Outside the city of Ann Arbor, Davidge and Rosenthal finished in nearly a dead heat, with Davidge receiving 6,800 votes compared to 6,839 for Rosenthal.

The board has said that the current downtown building needs major repairs. Options they’ll likely consider include placing another proposal on a future ballot to pay for renovations or a scaled-back project. The AADL board’s next meeting is on Monday, Nov. 19.

Ann Arbor Voters Reject Public Art Millage

A more flexible funding mechanism for public art in Ann Arbor was defeated by voters on Nov. 6. The 0.1 mill tax – which was expected to generate around $450,000 annually – was rejected by 28,166 voters (55.86%), with support from 22,254 voters (44.14%).

The proposal won a majority of votes in just 13 out of 59 precincts with the most support coming from Ward 5, Precinct 4 where 60.5% of voters supported the public art millage. Ward 5 had six of the 13 precincts where the proposal achieved a majority. And the proposal finished in a dead heat in Ward 5, Precinct 5 with 471 voting for and against it. Opposition among in-person voters was strongest in Ward 1, Precinct 9, where only 34.5% of voters supported it. The proposal did not win a majority of votes in any precinct of Ward 2.

The city’s current funding mechanism for public art, the Percent for Art ordinance, will remain in place unless action is taken by Ann Arbor city council to change it. It’s possible that an amendment would be brought forward to redefine what counts as an eligible project is under the ordinance. One of several previous attempts by the council to revise the ordinance had included a restriction on the eligible funds that could be used.

The Percent for Art program, in place since 2007, requires that 1% of all city capital projects be set aside for public art, up to a limit of $250,000 per project. According to the most recent budget update at the Oct. 24, 2012 meeting of the Ann Arbor public art commission, the Percent for Art program has a balance of $1.533 million. Of that, $847,104 has been earmarked for previously approved projects, leaving about $686,000 unallocated. [.pdf of budget summary]

The millage proposal had been introduced without public input in August, brought forward by city councilmember Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), to the surprise of the arts community. Leaders of many local arts organizations had urged the city council to hold off and take a more strategic approach to floating a millage. Concerns included a lack of clarity for voters about how yes or no votes would impact public funding for art, the short time frame during which a millage campaign could be mounted, and the fact that Ann Arbor voters would also be voting on two other millages on the Nov. 6 ballot: (1) renewal of a 1.1 mill tax to pay for park capital improvements and maintenance; and (2) a library millage to support construction of a new downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. [The library bond proposal was also defeated. The parks millage renewal passed.]

Those concerns were not compelling to the majority of councilmembers, who voted on Aug. 20 to put the millage on the Nov. 6 ballot. Subsequently, supporters of the arts community formed a campaign committee (B for Art) to support the millage.

The Percent for Art funds are overseen by the Ann Arbor public art commission, which makes recommendations to the city council about spending decisions for public art. The city’s most high-profile – and controversial – project to date has been the water sculpture in front of city hall, designed by German sculptor Herbert Dreiseitl.

Ann Arbor Parks Tax Renewal Passes

Renewal of the park maintenance and capital improvements millage was overwhelmingly approved by Ann Arbor voters on Nov. 6, with 34,959 voters (68.44%) casting yes votes compared with 16,123 (31.56%) voting against it.

The millage was approved by a majority of voters in every precinct in the city, with the strongest support coming from Ward 1, Precinct 3, where 82.3% of voters supported the parks tax. Weakest support for the parks tax citywide came in Ward 2, Precinct 2 where 53.6% of voters said yes.

The current 1.1 mill tax expires this year. The renewal runs from 2013-2018 and will raise about $4.9 million next year. The recommended allocation of revenues is 70% for park maintenance activities, and 30% for park capital improvement projects. Of that allocation, up to 10% can be shifted between the two categories as needed.

Examples of park maintenance activities include “forestry and horticulture, natural area preservation, park operations, recreation facilities, and targets of opportunity,” according to a staff memo distributed to PAC in June. Capital improvement projects would cover parks, forestry and horticulture, historic preservation, neighborhood parks and urban plazas, park operations, pathways, trails, boardwalks, greenways and watersheds, and recreation facilities. [More projects are listed on the city's website.]

There had been no formal opposition to this millage renewal. Ingrid Ault, a member of the city’s park advisory commission, formed a campaign committee (Friends of the Parks) in October to promote the renewal.

Mexicotte Re-Elected to Ann Arbor School Board

One seat was on the Nov. 6 ballot for the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of trustees, a nonpartisan position for a four-year term starting Jan. 1, 2013. Incumbent Deb Mexicotte, who serves as board president, defeated Dale Leslie by a vote of 31,436 (63.19%) to 17,758 (35.69%).

Leslie’s support was somewhat stronger outside the city of Ann Arbor where he received 41.3% of the vote compared to 33.1% inside the city. The school district also includes portions of the townships of Ann Arbor, Lodi, Northfield, Pittsfield, Salem, Scio, Superior, and Webster.

Mexicotte was first elected to the seven-member board in 2003, and has been elected by her peers on the board for three terms as president.

Kuhnke, Connors Elected to 22nd Circuit Court

Two nonpartisan countywide races for seats on the 22nd Circuit Court bench were on the Nov. 6 ballot, each for a six-year term. In a race with no incumbents, Carol Kuhnke won with 67,051 votes (54.14%), compared to 55,704 votes (44.98%) for Jim Fink. Kuhnke will be replacing judge Melinda Morris, who is retiring because of state-mandated age limits.

Incumbent Timothy Connors retained his seat, defeating challenger Michael Woodyard with 83,101 votes (75.66%) compared to Woodyard’s 25,432 votes (23.15%). Connors was first appointed to the 22nd Circuit Court in 1997 by then-Gov. John Engler, a Republican, to replace judge Karl Fink – the older brother of Jim Fink. In his three subsequent elections, Connors has been unopposed. Before making the circuit court appointment, Engler had appointed Connors in 1991 to a seat on the 15th District Court in Ann Arbor.

Kuhnke carried just seven out of 24 countywide jurisdictions, but had a large enough plurality in those areas to win. She carried Ann Arbor with 68.1% of the vote.

Connors carried every jurisdiction in the county with a minimum of 72% – the amount of votes he received in Augusta and Northfield Townships.

According to documents filed with the state, Connors raised over $100,000 in campaign contributions. Woodyard’s campaign finance report shows contributions of $7,266.

Other local judicial races were on the ballot, but the incumbents were unopposed: Darlene O’Brien, probate court judge; Cedric Simpson, 14A District Court; and Joseph Burke, 15th District Court.

In the Michigan Supreme Court race, Bridget Mary McCormack – an Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan law professor – is likely to win one of two contested judgeships for a full eight-year term, according to reports in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, and based on results posted on the Michigan Secretary of State’s website.

Democrats Finish Strong in County Races

There were few surprises in the races for Washtenaw County elected offices, with Democrats – and two out of three Republican incumbents – winning their respective races on Nov. 6.

The three seats representing Ann Arbor districts on the Washtenaw County board of commissioners were on the ballot for two-year terms. Due to redistricting that takes effect with this election cycle, the county board will shrink from 11 districts currently to 9 districts on the new board, starting in January 2013. [.pdf file of 9-district county map] District 2 also includes a small portion of Ann Arbor, but the incumbent in that district, Republican Dan Smith, was unopposed.

In District 7, Democrat Andy LaBarre defeated Republican David Parker with 12,817 votes (77.37%) compared to Parker’s 3,675 votes (22.18%). The incumbent, Barbara Bergman, did not seek re-election.

Democrat Yousef Rabhi was re-elected to serve as District 8 representative with 10,562 votes (77.75%) compared to 2,922 votes (21.51%) for Republican Joe Baublis. And in District 9, incumbent Democrat Conan Smith won with 15,849 votes (79.88%) over Republican John Floyd’s 3,878 votes (19.55%).

Most incumbent commissioners fared well in other parts of the county, but not every current commissioner was returned to office. In a close race in District 1 on the west side of the county, Democrat Kent Martinez-Kratz defeated incumbent Rob Turner by a vote of 10,904 (51.34%) to 10,258 (48.3%).

District 7 – covering Pittsfield Township – saw the re-election of Democrat Felicia Brabec with 10,506 votes (66.61%) over Republican Richard Conn’s 5,186 votes (32.88%).

On the east side of the county, District 5 incumbent Democrat Rolland Sizemore beat Republican Richard Deitering with 12,850 votes (71.49%) to Deitering’s 5,035 votes (28.01%). And District 6 incumbent Democrat Ronnie Peterson prevailed over Republican David Raaflaub with 13,462 votes (83.44%) to Raaflaub’s 2,544 votes (15.77%).

Because of redistricting, two incumbents – Democrat Wes Prater and Republican Alicia Ping – faced each other on Nov. 6 for District 3, covering parts of southern Washtenaw County, including Saline. Ping won that race with 10,896 votes (55.69%) compared to 8,603 votes (43.97%) for Prater, who had served for five previous terms.

Several other elected county incumbents – all Democrats – prevailed in their races for four-year terms.

County prosecuting attorney Brian Mackie defeated Libertarian Justin Altman with 123,148 votes (85%) compared to Altman’s 21,032 votes (14.52%). There was no Republican in this race. For Washtenaw County sheriff, Jerry Clayton was re-elected over Republican Jeffrey Gallatin with 115,731 votes (70.53%) compared to Gallatin’s 47,621 votes (29.02%).

For the county clerk/register of deeds race, Larry Kestenbaum was re-elected with 109,324 votes (68.39%) over Republican Stanley Watson, who received 49,649 votes (31.06%). County treasurer Catherine McClary won re-election over Republican Marlene Chockley, with McClary drawing 109,236 votes (68.51%) to Chockley’s 49,528 votes (31.06%).

The current county water resources commissioner, Democrat Janis Bobrin, did not seek re-election. In that race, Democrat Evan Pratt – who was endorsed by Bobrin – defeated Republican Eric Scheie. Pratt received 108,354 votes (68.76%) compared to 48,498 votes (30.78%) for Scheie.

Hieftje Re-Elected, Warpehoski Wins Ward 5

Only two races were contested on Nov. 6 for Ann Arbor mayor and city council – both for two-year terms. Incumbent Democrat John Hieftje defeated independent Albert Howard with 42,255 votes (84.11%), compared to 7,649 votes (15.23%) for Howard. Hieftje was first elected mayor in 2000, and will now start his seventh term in that office.

In Ward 5, Democrat Chuck Warpehoski was elected over Republican Stuart Berry, winning with 10,371 votes (81.49%) compared to 2,281 votes (17.92%) for Berry. The incumbent Democrat, Carsten Hohnke, did not run for re-election.

The four other city council races, also for two-year terms, were not contested. Democrat incumbents Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) and Margie Teall (Ward 4) were on the ballot, along with Democrats Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1) and Sally Hart Petersen (Ward 2). Petersen had defeated incumbent Tony Derezinski in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary. Kailasapathy prevailed in the primary over candidate Eric Sturgis. The current Ward 1 councilmember, Sandi Smith, did not seek re-election.

The 11-member city council includes the mayor and 10 city councilmembers, two from each ward.

Democrats Win State House Seats

Four districts in the Michigan House of Representatives cover parts of Washtenaw County, and all will be represented by Democrats following the Nov. 6 election. District 53, which covers most of Ann Arbor, is represented by Democrat Jeff Irwin – he won another two-year term by defeating Republican John Spizak. Irwin drew 32,569 votes (80.48%) over 7,670 votes (18.95%) for Spizak.

In District 52, incumbent Republican Mark Ouimet was defeated by Democrat Gretchen Driskell, who currently serves as mayor of Saline, by a vote of 26,646 (52.86%) for Driskell to 23,609 (46.83%) for Ouimet. The district covers western, northern and parts of southern Washtenaw County.

Winning re-election was Democrat incumbent David Rutledge of District 54, representing the eastern portion of Washtenaw County, including Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. He defeated Republican Bill Emmerich by a vote of 29,869 (76.77%) to 8,716 (22.4%).

In District 55, Democrat Adam Zemke won a three-way race with 26,195 votes (64.33%) over Republican Owen Diaz (13,029 votes – 32.0%) and Green Party candidate David McMahon (1,415 votes – 3.48%). District 55 covers parts of northern Ann Arbor, the townships of Ann Arbor, Augusta, Pittsfield and York, and a northern part of the city of Milan.

Bernstein, Diggs Ahead In UM Regents Race

Based on unofficial results posted on the Michigan Secretary of State’s website, Democrat Mark Bernstein of Ann Arbor is leading in the race for two open seats on the University of Michigan board of regents. Two current regents – Libby Maynard and Martin Taylor – did not seek re-election this year for another eight-year term on that eight-member governing body. The top two vote-getters to replace them were elected from a field of 10 candidates statewide. Results have not yet been posted for nine of Michigan’s 83 counties, including Wayne, Kent, Genesee and Muskegon.

Results as of 6 a.m. on Nov. 7 show Bernstein with 1,359,293 votes. Second place – by a relatively narrow lead – is held by the other Democrat on the ballot, Shauna Ryder Diggs, with 1,181,274 votes. Diggs is the daughter-in-law of outgoing regent Taylor. The two Republicans vying for the seats – Dan Horning and Robert Steele – have received 1,176,275 and 1,176,256 votes, respectively, according to the Secretary of State’s posting.

In Washtenaw County, Bernstein and Diggs won a decisive majority. Bernstein got 105,953 in Washtenaw County, or 33.47% of the vote, while Diggs received 95,184 votes (30.07%). Republicans Horning and Steele got 47,555 votes (15.02%) and 48,129 votes (15.2%), respectively.

Incumbents Returned to WCC Board

Three seats on the seven-member Washtenaw Community College board of trustees were on the Nov. 6 ballot in nonpartisan races. The race for a partial term ending Dec. 31, 2014 had only one candidate – incumbent Patrick McLean of Ypsilanti. He currently serves as treasurer of the board, and was elected with 85,262 votes (98.33%).

Two other incumbents were also re-elected to full six-year terms in a three-way race. Richard Landau and Diana McKnight Morton, both of Ann Arbor, received 56,875 (35.23%) and 68,797 (42.62%) votes, respectively. Challenger William Hazen Figg of Dexter got 34,002 votes (21.06%). The top two vote-getters were elected in this race.

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Bernstein, Diggs Ahead in UM Regents Race

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:42:23 +0000

Hieftje Re-Elected; Warpehoski Wins Council

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:37:44 +0000

The 11-member city council includes the mayor and 10 city councilmembers, two from each ward.

Incumbents Returned to WCC Board

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:36:20 +0000

Ann Arbor Library Bond Proposal Defeated

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:34:03 +0000

Local Democrats Win State House Seats

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:25:08 +0000

Kuhnke, Connors Elected to 22nd Circuit Court

Chronicle Staff — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:14:39 +0000

Kuhnke carried just seven out of 24 countywide jurisdictions, but had a large enough plurality in those areas to win. She carried Ann Arbor with 68.1% of the vote.

Connors carried every jurisdiction in the county with a minimum of 72% – the amount of votes he received in August and Northfield Townships.

According to documents filed with the state, Connors raised over $100,000 in campaign contributions. Woodyard’s campaign finance report shows contributions of $7,266.

Other local judicial races were on the ballot, but the incumbents were unopposed: Darlene O’Brien, probate court judge; Cedric Simpson, 14A District Court; and Joseph Burke, 15th District Court.