August 6, 2011 - 10:43am
Incumbents in Wards 2, 3 and 5 win primary election
BY ADAM RUBENFIRE
According to the Ann Arbor City Clerk’s Office, election results posted on the Washtenaw County website have been certified and made official, showing the three incumbents from Ann Arbor City Council Wards 2, 3 and 5 won their respective races in the Ann Arbor City Council primary election on Aug. 2.
The results show the three city council incumbents — Stephen Rapundalo (D-Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3), and Mike Anglin (D-Ward 5) — won the Democratic nomination for their wards, and they will therefore run in the general election this fall.
Differing from the previously unofficial results as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the official results as of Thursday afternoon showed Rapundalo still the winner in Ward 2, but by approximately 15 percent, not 19 percent as it was on Aug. 2. The percentages of all other candidates remained within less than 1 percent of what were reported on Aug. 2.
Rapundalo was able to protect his seat from challenger Tim Hull, a programmer at the University’s Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and a member of the city’s taxicab board, who is a firm critic of council’s recent cuts to public safety.
In Ward 3, Kunselman recieved 58 percent of the vote, followed by Ingrid Ault — executive director of Think Local First — with 35 percent of the vote. Kunselman said in an Aug. 1 Michigan Daily article that the city’s Downtown Development Authority had essentially tried to remove him from office and expressed frustration at the board’s “rampant” spending.
Marwan Issa — who received the Michigan Daily’s endorsement for Ward 3 for proposals that included having the University subsidize health care and education for Ann Arbor residents that fall into “temporary economic hardship” — received only 5 percent of the ward’s total count. Isaa currently serves as technology director at Global Education Excellence.
Anglin led the race in Ward 5 by about 31 percent more than his challenger, Neal Elyakin, supervisor of young adult programs for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District and a member of the Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission. Elyakin said in the Aug. 1 Michigan Daily article he wanted to work to improve the city’s relationship with the University.
Turnout was low for the election — which is common among primary elections — with no precincts exceeding 10 percent.
Both Kunselman and Anglin face Republican challengers in the general election. Kunselman is opposed by David Parker, a CPA/CFP at Ann Arbor based consulting financial planning firm Retire On Time. Anglin will face Republican Stuart Berry.
Councilmembers Sabra Briere (D-Ward 1) and Marcia Higgins (D-Ward 4) are also up for election in November but faced no opposition in the primary. Higgins will run against Republican Eric Scheie, but Briere currently faces no Republican opposition, according to an Aug. 3 article on AnnArbor.com.
