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Labor Day Weekend

Madison House or Leopold Bros NWS Fall kickoff concert and voter registration drive.

New West Side Association

Data

NWS blog

Coming this fall -- November 2005 -- will be city council elections. One city council member from each of the 5 city wards will be elected to a 2-year term. Because this is an "off-year" election (no major state or national contests), voter turnout is typically low. As few as 2000 votes can get a candidate elected to the city council, if previous years are any indication.

While the NWS does not like such low voter turnout, per se, it does present the opportunity for students and renters to make a significant impact on city elections and to influence the issues of this election. We must take advantage of this opportunity while it is here.

Primaries

Primaries are the contests in which a party selects who will run in the general election. They precede the general election by several months. Since Ann Arbor is a nominally left-of-center city, most of the action is in the Democratic primary. However, important ideas can come from seemingly marginal candidates and parties, as well.

1st Ward

Democrat Bob Johnson, co-sponsor of the pre-emptive greenway resolution, will be running unopposed by major party candidates.

2nd Ward

On the Democratic side, UofM senior Eugene Kang is running against Pfizer researcher Steven Rapundalo. Kang is an English/Philosophy double major and works part-time for the university library system. He doesn't have any previous political experience, as far as we can tell. Rapundalo chaired the Open Space Plan committee and has been active in the city as part of the Orchard Hills/Maplewood Homeowners Association. He ran for Mayor in 2000 as a Republican and lost to current Mayor Hiefje.

On the Republican side, Thomas Borque, a personal injury attorney, will be running in the general election.

3rd Ward

Incumbent Democrat Leigh Greden, Detroit attorney, will be running unopposed by any major party candidates.

4th Ward

In the 4th ward, incumbent Marcia Higgins faces a challenge from Eric Lipson in the Democratic Primary. Higgins has held the seat since 1999. She ran as a Republican in her previous races but became a Democrat last fall. Lipson serves on the City Planning Commission and works at the Ann Arbor ReUse Center.

Republican Jim Hood, a mortgage lender, will be the Republican candidate in the general election.

5th Ward

Democratic incumbent Wendy Woods, a university educator/administrator, will run unopposed in the primary and general election.

As more information becomes available, we will update these pages. We will also be developing a questionnaire for each candidate as the primaries approach.

New West Side Association
106 W. Madison
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
(734) 717-6384
director[at]newwestside.org