Last night, when Ann Arbor’s street corners were littered with political lawn signs, some of the city’s swankiest pubs were entertaining eager City Council candidates and anxious supporters while they thirsted for hard drinks and hard-earned victory.

Because there were no City Council candidates listed as Republicans on the ballot, last night’s Democratic primary offered an opportunity for candidates to run unopposed or highly favored in November’s general election.

Two Democratic spots were open to newcomers because Councilmembers Sandi Smith (D–Ward 1) and Carsten Hohnke (D–Ward 5) decided not to seek re-election.

By defeating Eric Sturgis last night, Sumi Kailasapathy will have a chance to run for Smith’s vacant seat as a Democrat in the fall. She won with 863 votes, totaling 57.69 percent, to his 628 votes, totaling 41.98 percent, according to unofficial results from the Washtenaw County Clerk’s office as of 1:35 a.m.

Hohnke’s seat was won by Chuck Warpehoski, who defeated Vivienne Armentrout. He had 1,709 votes, totaling 56.33 percent, while she had 1,320 votes, totaling 43.51 percent.

Christopher Taylor (D–Ward 3) had no challenger in the primary.

In Ward 2, Tony Derezinski (D–Ward 2) lost to Sally Hart Petersen. He had 938 votes, totaling 44.62 percent, while she had 1161 votes, totaling 55.23 percent.

In the Ward 3 Democratic primary, Margie Teall (D–Ward 4) defeated Jack Eaton by a mere 1.5 percent. She had 866 votes, totaling 50.47 percent, to his 848 votes, totaling 49.42 percent.

Eaton, who had run against Teall in the 2010 primary, held a results-viewing event at Conor O’Neill’s Pub last night along with Kailasapathy. Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D–Ward 3) attended along with councilmember Jane Lumm (I–Ward 2).

In an interview during the event, Eaton said he couldn’t say if he would or would not make another attempt at running for council one day, but said he was happy his friend Kailasapathy had won along with Petersen.

“I think that both (Kailasapathy) and (Petersen) share that basic sentiment that we should be prioritizing our spending,” Eaton said. “I’m hopeful that we’re going to see a little bit of a change.”

Eaton said he hopes the council takes heed of some of the issues that inspired him to run.

“I think that just basic services — you know, we’ve cut back police and fire by a third over the last 10 years, and here we are we’re about to embark on spending millions of dollars on an Amtrak station, and we say we don’t have enough money to rebuild our police and fire departments,” Eaton said.

In an interview after she declared her victory, Kailasapathy said she expected her win and added that it was an indication of resident’s will.

“I was expecting to win because I could see the writing on the wall. People really more than anything else, they just wanted a change,” Kailasapathy said. “They just wanted independent-minded people to come and look at things and evaluate things, so I could feel the change was coming.”

Ann Arbor resident Freda Harseth said she supported Kailasapathy because she could preserve Ann Arbor’s exceptional nature.

“I am concerned about the use of public money for private development, disregarding zoning laws, trying to change zoning laws to go into the back pocket of the developers at the expense of what we consider to make Ann Arbor unique,” Harseth said. “I think we’re losing that.”

Meanwhile, at The Last Word bar where Lumm attended, Petersen and supporters awaited the results of her race against four-year incumbent Derezinski.

In an interview during the event, Lumm said she endorsed Petersen because she thinks he is what the council needs. She added that she supported Armentrout, Eaton and Kailasapathy.

“(Derezinski is) a very nice man, and I know he cares a lot about the community, as does (Petersen),” Lumm said.