I work at a public university in Michigan, and by state law I can’t use the university’s email system for campaign purposes. I can, however, provide objective information about electoral issues.
In this spirit, I compiled an email (copied in below) and forwarded it to the faculty in my department. It covers only the allegedly “non-partisan” electoral races, notably the judicial races, which are actually quite partisan in all but name. I keep it rigorously non-partisan and make no suggestions; all I do is point out the party that nominated the judicial nominees, and the groups that have endorsed candidates in local races.
I’ve gotten lots of thanks from colleagues for taking the time to compile this guide, and no complaints. I thought I’d share it here, in case anyone wants to use it (tailored to your own city, town, or county of course — this guide is for Ann Arbor).
Remember: the presidential election is important, but local politics is where it all starts!
Finally, I highly recommend to all voters, everywhere, that you find your own ballot online before you go to the polls. Study it, look up candidates and proposal issues, and write down the names of people you want to vote for if they aren’t already identified by a “D”!
My email “nonpartisan voter’s guide” is pasted in below the line.
The following is a little nonpartisan voter guide that I compiled, based on the ballot for Ann Arbor. (Most ballots in Washtenaw County will be similar.) If you have burning questions or comments, please address them to me alone, not to the whole list. If you find the guide useful, please forward as you see fit.
In Michigan, judicial races are officially “nonpartisan” even though judicial candidates are nominated by the parties. Local school boards are nonpartisan. Here’s the information I’ve compiled to these nonpartisan races, as a service to voters, without making endorsements of any kind on my own.
The guide below includes only contested nonpartisan races that appear on the November ballot in Ann Arbor. The races for Judge of Court of Appeals-District 3, Judge of Circuit Court-22nd Circuit, and 2 races for Judge of District Court-15th District are all uncontested, so I skip them. For Supreme Court justices I list the party affiliations of candidates. For the other races, I list the local organizations that have endorsed candidates (if any). Finally, there are a number of ballot initiatives and proposals at the end of the ballot.
- Justice of Supreme Court (full 8-year term, vote for ONE):
Democratic: Frank Szymanski
Republican: David Viviano
Natural Law: Doug Dern
- Justice of Supreme Court (3-year partial term, vote for ONE):
Democratic: Deborah Thomas
Republican: Joan Larsen. Larsen was named by Donald Trump as a possible US Supreme Court nominee if he is elected president.
Libertarian: Kerry Morgan
- Board of Trustees Member, Washtenaw Community College (vote for no more than TWO):
There are 10 candidates running for 2 six-year terms on the board. More info on these candidates: annarborvotes.org/... and www.mlive.com/.… . After a lot of searching, I have found the following endorsements in this confusing race:
For Dilip Das and Marisa Rader Huston: Huron Valley Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO)
For Dilip Das and William Milliken: Washtenaw Community College Education Association and AFSCME
For Roderick Casey and Anna Zinkel: Washtenaw Democratic Party
For Angela Davis: Construction Laborers Local Union 499
The other candidates running (no known endorsements) are: Suzanne Gray, Holly Heaviland, Gregory Irwin, and Charles Wolfe
- Board Member, Ann Arbor Public Schools (vote for no more than THREE):
There are 8 candidates running for 3 slots on the board. For more information on these candidates: www.mlive.com/...
Jeff Gaynor, Harmony Mitchell, and Hunter Van Valkenburgh are running as a slate, endorsed by the Ann Arbor Education Association / Michigan Education Association (the teachers’ union) and the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation / AFL-CIO.
Incumbent board members Deb Mexicotte, Simone Lightfoot, and Don Wilkerson are running as an informal slate.
Jeremy Glick, a recent Skyline High graduate and current UM Political Science student, has been endorsed by A2 city council members Sabra Briere and Zachary Ackerman
Rebecca Lazarus has two children in Logan Elementary.
- Board Member, Ann Arbor District Library (vote for no more than FOUR):
There are 8 candidates running for 4 slots on the board. More information about these candidates here: annarborvotes.org/... and in an article (not on line yet) in the October issue of the Ann Arbor Observer. There are no endorsements (that I have found) for any candidates in this race.
Jamie Vander Broek, Victoria Green, Colleen Sherman, and Linh Song are running as a slate. They support the current board and a millage for a new downtown library.
The other candidates are LuAnne Bullington, Jaime Magiera, Steve Simpson, and John Torgersen. They support a variety of positions. Everybody loves the library.
Finally, in the Proposals Section:
- There is a Washtenaw County road renewal millage on the ballot and a Washtenaw County proposal to increase tax limitation for county department of veterans affairs.
- There is a proposal to authorize the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan to levy a millage for funding a regional transportation system connecting Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Ours is currently one of the few major metropolitan regions in the US without a regional transportation system. This proposal has been endorsed by local and regional environmental, local and regional transportation advocates, all the newspapers in Southeast Michigan that I have seen, the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), and regional business leaders. It is opposed by No Massive Transport Tax, an anti-tax group based in Oakland County.
- There is an Ann Arbor city charter amendment to increase the term of the mayor from 2 to 4 years and of city council members from 2 to 4 years. The basic pro/con arguments are:
“YES”: Increasing the terms will allow the city to hold city council elections every 2 years instead of every year, saving money and increasing voter turnout. Holding elections in odd-numbered years is costly for the city. Turnout is significantly higher (many times higher) when local elections coincide with state and national elections.
“NO”: Shorter terms force council members to interact more regularly with voters. “Frequent accountability is better.” Cost and turnout levels are less important considerations.
More info on this ballot proposal: annarborobserver.com/...
(End of my forwarded email.)
Here I can get political and give my personal recommendations; these are the names I’ll be taking with me into the voting booth:
- “D” on all partisan races
- Supreme Court (full term, vote for ONE): Frank Szymanski
- Supreme Court (partial term, vote for ONE): Deborah Thomas
- Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees (vote for TWO):
Dilip Das, Marisa Rader Huston
- Ann Arbor Public Schools Board (vote for THREE):
Jeff Gaynor, Harmony Mitchell, Hunter Van Valkenburgh
- Ann Arbor District Library Board (vote for FOUR):
Victoria Green, Colleen Sherman, Linh Song, Jamie Vander Broek
- Proposals: YES to everything, as far as I can figure out
