The Ann Arbor City Council is composed of 10 Council members and the Mayor. The City is divided into five Wards, each of which has two representatives on Council. Each year, one of the two Council members from each Ward is up for election. Council elections begin with party primaries in August. Typically, the winner of the Democratic Party primary runs unopposed in the fall election. The extreme positions of the national Republican Party have hurt the ability of moderate Ann Arbor Republicans to win elections. In recent years, former moderate Republicans such as Stephen Rapundalo, Marcia Higgins and Jane Lumm have left that party. Rapundalo and Higgins became Democrats, while Lumm runs as an Independent. This year, we will also have a May election. That ballot will include, at least, a proposal to raise the state sales tax from 6% to 7% to fund long overdue road repairs. It is possible other items will apear on that May ballot and we will update this page if that happens. Non-Partisan Elections? Council
members Jane Lumm and Kirk Westphal are each working on proposals to
amend the Ann Arbor City Charter to allow for non-partisan elections. Council member Lumm has circulated a draft of her proposal. In summary, Lumm's proposal would:
2015 Council Elections Nomination petitions for the August primary were due on or before April 21, 2015. Five neighborhood friendly incumbents are up for election this year: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Jack Eaton (Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5). Some of the challengers are being supported by Greg Pratt,
a member of MISSION, a group that advocates tent encampments within the
city. It is yet to be determined whether those challengers who receive
Pratt's support will disclose whether they will support establishing
illegal encampments for those who have no homes or other shelter.Candidate Forums City Council candidates have and will meet in debates or other forums. Here are some:April 11, 2015 mLive - Ann Arbor council candidates weigh in on affordable housing, police shooting, city elections. The article covers a candidate forum held by former Mayor John Hieftje. Video can be found here: http://fordschool.umich.edu/events/2015/ann-arbor-city-council-candidates-debate. June 15, 2015 mLive - Hear what 6 candidates for Ann Arbor City Council have to say. The article includes vidoe of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party candidate forum. On June 29, the League of Women Voters
held two candidate forums, which were broadcast live on Community
Television Network Channel 19. The video will be available on-line after
June 29th at http://a2cititv.pegcentral.com.
Ward 1 Ward 2
Ward 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 August Primary The local wiki site for Ann Arbor has a page dedicated to listing those who have pulled petitions to run for City Council and the status of those petitions: Petitions for Ann Arbor Elected Office: Status.Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
February 23, 2015 Michigan Daily - Student announces candidacy for City Council. February 24, 2015 mLive.com - 3rd Ward race for Ann Arbor City Council. Ward 4
Ward 5
March 05, 2015 mLive - Eaton and Anglin facing challengers in 4th and 5th ward races for Ann Arbor City Council. |
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