Nonpartisan ballot guide to the November 8, 2022 election, Ann Arbor edition – UPDATED, Nov. 1.

Are you registered?

Check your registration status here: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index

If you aren’t registered, the web site has a link to online registration. You can also register in person at several locations, which it lists.

If you are registered, it can tell you whether you have already requested an absentee ballot, how to request one online if you haven’t, or where to go to request one in person.

It can also show you what wil be on your ballot for the upcoming election, and where to turn in absentee ballots. There are several drop boxes this year, including the one at City Hall (open 24/7) and one in the UM Museum of Art, 530 S State St. (open M-Th noon-6 pm and Fridays noon-4 pm). You can also mail your absentee ballot (postage required).

NONPARTISAN SECTION (I have marked contested races with an *asterisk.)

* JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT – Vote for not more than 2

Richard Bernstein, Justice of Supreme Court – DEM

Kyra Harris Bolden – DEM

Paul Hudson – REP

Kerry Lee Morgan – LIB

Brian Zahra, Justice of Supreme Court – REP

More info: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/who-are-five-candidates-running-michigan-supreme-court

JUDGE OF COURT OF APPEALS – COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT 3

1) Incumbent Position, 6 Year Term – Vote for not more than 1

James Robert Redford

2) Incumbent Position, Partial Term Ending 01/01/2025 – Vote for not more than 1

Christopher Yates

* 3) Non-Incumbent Position, 6 Year Term – Vote for not more than 1

Kathleen A. Feeney – candidate website

Raymond P. Voet – candidate website

Note, though neither candidate reveals their political party, Feeney lists endorsements from people associated primarily with the Democratic Party, and Voet lists endorsements from people associated exclusively (as far as I can tell) with the Republican Party.

* JUDGE OF CIRCUIT COURT – 22ND CIRCUIT COURT, Non-Incumbent, Vote for not more than 1

Marla Linderman Richelew – candidate website

Arianne Elizabeth Slay – candidate website

Both appear to be associated with the Democratic Party. Richelew is endorsed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, the MDP LGBT&A Caucus, and a number of current and former Democratic politicians and judges. Slay is endorsed by the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, several local Democratic politicians, the MPD Black Caucus, and at least 5 labor unions. This Ann Arbor Observer article is helpful: https://annarborobserver.com/contests-and-consequences/.

JUDGE OF DISTRICT COURT – 15TH DISTRICT COURT, Incumbent Position, Vote for not more than 1 (City of Ann Arbor)

Miriam A. Perry

* JUDGE OF DISTRICT COURT – 14A DISTRICT COURT, Incumbent Position, Vote for not more than 1 (Washtenaw County except Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Township)

Fawn Armstrong – https://www.fawnarmstrongforjudge.com/

Karl Barr – https://www.karlbarrforjudge.com/

This race is out of my jurisdiction, so I don’t know much about it beyond what’s in the candidate websites (listed above) and this MLive article: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/09/two-washtenaw-county-attorneys-vying-to-be-next-14a-district-judge.html. As far as I can tell, Armstrong and Barr have roughly similar “judicial philosphies” and politics. Barr has the more complete website, which details his deep roots in Ypsilanti along with many endorsements from Ypsi leaders and activists. Barr is also endorsed by the Washtenaw County Democratic Party and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. Anderson does not list any endorsements, which is unusual, but she must have political support because she got the most votes in the August primary.

* WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBER, Vote for not more than 2

Angela Davis

David S. Malcolm

William G. Milliken Jr.

It appears that David and Milliken are incumbents running for reelection, and Malcolm is a WCC alum and longtime employee who is running as a bit of an outsider candidate. Otherwise, I have not found much about these three candidates beyond this very helpful League of Women Voters candidate forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJZxi9ZWnp4.

* ANN ARBOR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD, Vote for not more than 4

Susan Baskett

Kai S. Cortina

Jacinda Townsend Gides

Jamila James

Lena Kauffman

Jeremy Lapham

Paulette Metoyer

Rima Mohammad

Susan Ward Schmidt

Barry Schumer

Andrew Spencer

Leslie Wilkins

Alex Wood

This crowded election, with 13 candidates running for 4 slots, is difficult to parse.

This Ann Arbor Observer article is very useful: https://annarborobserver.com/contests-and-consequences/. So is the long article on page 11 of the October 2022 Washtenaw Jewish News (pdf): https://washtenawjewishnews.org/PDFs/WJN-10-22-web.pdf

The Michigan Daily has a short, clear summary of each candidate’s positions in their election voter guide: https://www.michigandaily.com/news/ann-arbor/whats-on-the-ann-arbor-ballot-2022-midterm-election.

Mlive has an article on the candidates with their answers to their survey questions: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/10/meet-the-13-candidates-vying-for-4-ann-arbor-school-board-seats.html

The League of Women Voters has a series of 3 candidate forums with all candidates except Metoyer:

There is also an Ann Arbor Democratic Party forum with just two of the candidates, Schumer and Wood: https://www.washtenawdems.org/calendar/ann-arbor-school-board-candidates-forum-with-alex-wood-and-barry-schumer/

Baskett is the only incumbent running.

Lapham, Mohammed, and Gides are running as a slate of “’community-centered’ candidates committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and fighting against racism” (WJN).

Cortina and Kauffman cofounded “Ann Arbor Reasonable Return,” which decried the pandemic school closure, and are running as a slate.

One issue that seems to divide the candidates is their positions on the AAPS response to the pandemic in 2020-2022, which range from firmly opposed to the school closures, to generally supportive, to feeling that the schools should have been even more stringent in masking requirements. Read the articles or look at the candidate web sites for more nuance, but I have indicated their general “for or against” positions in the table below, which also lists Democratic Party and local union endorsements (no other party has taken a position, to my knowledge).

To make it easier for me (and maybe you?) to visualize the different candidates, I compiled this table. Candidate names are linked to their websites, if I have found one for them.

	AAPS parent (current or former)	AAPS work experience/ PTO volunteer	Position on school pandemic decisions	Endorsed by WCDP (local Dems)	Endorsed by AAEA (A2 teachers union)	Endorsed by Huron Valley   AFL-CIO
Susan Baskett			supportive	X	X	X
Kai S. Cortina	Yes		opposed
Jacinda Townsend Gides	Yes		opposed	X	X
Jamila James	Yes	PTO	supportive		X	X
Lena Kauffman	Yes		opposed
Jeremy Lapham	Yes	school nurse	opposed	X		X
Paulette Metoyer			opposed
Rima Mohammad	Yes		opposed	X
Susan Ward Schmidt		teacher	reasonable		X	X
Barry Schumer		counselor	supportive
Andrew Spencer	Yes	PTO	neutral		X
Leslie Wilkins	Yes	PTO	supportive
Alex Wood	Yes		supportive

* DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD MEMBER, ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY, Vote for not more than 3

Sara Duvall – https://www.votesaraduvall.org/

Catherine Hadley – https://sovaahadleya2.com/

Sherrie A. Kossoudji

Jim Leija – https://sovaahadleya2.com/

John Schaeffer

Aidan Sova – https://sovaahadleya2.com/

Again, this Ann Arbor Observer article is helpful: https://annarborobserver.com/contests-and-consequences/. MLive partnered with LWV and Vote411 on this candidate questionnaire: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/10/6-candidates-vying-for-3-seats-on-ann-arbor-district-library-board.html. The candidates divide into two groups: Leija, Hadley, and Sova (Leija is the only incumbent running), who are running as a slate; and Duvall, Kossoudji, and Schaeffer. From the Observer article, it seems that all love the library and are anywhere from generally satisfied to very happy with the way it is being run. It is honestly hard to see from the limited information available how the two groups differ, other than the fact that the average age of the first is 33 and that of the second is 71. The slate of Leija, Hadley, and Sova has been endorsed by the Washtenaw County Democratic Party and by several local officials and activists.

PROPOSAL SECTION

There are 3 proposed amendments to the Michigan State Constitution on the ballot, and for Ann Arbor city residents, one city proposal. A fair amount of information is readily available online about the state proposals. The Ann Arbor Observer article mentioned above has a couple of paragraphs about the city proposal.

State Proposal 22-1. A proposal to amend the state constitution to require annual public financial disclosure reports by legislators and other state officers and change state legislator term limit to 12 total years in legislature. This proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Require members of legislature, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general file annual public financial disclosure reports after 2023, including assets, liabilities, income sources, future employment agreements, gifts, travel reimbursements, and positions held in organizations except religious, social, and political organizations.
• Require legislature implement but not limit or restrict reporting requirements.
• Replace current term limits for state representatives and state senators with a 12-year total limit in any combination between house and senate, except a person elected to senate in 2022 may be elected the number of times allowed when that person became a candidate.

State Proposal 22-2. A proposal to amend the state constitution to add provisions regarding elections. This proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Recognize fundamental right to vote without harassing conduct;
• Require military or overseas ballots be counted if postmarked by election day;
• Provide voter right to verify identity with photo ID or signed statement;
• Provide voter right to single application to vote absentee in all elections;
• Require state-funded absentee-ballot drop boxes, and postage for absentee applications and ballots;
• Provide that only election officials may conduct post-election audits;
• Require nine days of early in-person voting;
• Allow donations to fund elections, which must be disclosed;
• Require canvass boards certify election results based only on the official records of votes cast.

State Proposal 22-3. A proposal to amend the state constitution to establish new individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make all decisions about pregnancy and abortion; allow state to regulate abortion in some cases; and forbid prosecution of individuals exercising established right. This proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Establish new individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make and carry out all decisions about pregnancy, such as prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion, miscarriage management, and infertility;
• Allow state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, but not prohibit if medically needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health;
• Forbid state discrimination in enforcement of this right; prohibit prosecution of an individual, or a person helping a pregnant individual, for exercising rights established by this amendment;
• Invalidate state laws conflicting with this amendment.

City Proposal 1. Ann Arbor City Charter Amendment Tax for Community Climate Action.

• Shall the Charter be amended to authorize a tax up to 1 mills to fund community climate action for 2023 through 2043, which will raise in the first year of levy the estimated revenue of $6,800,000? In accordance with State law, a portion of the millage may be subject to capture by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority and the Washtenaw County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.
• Authorized uses include: year-round composting; expanded residential/multifamily recycling; community and rooftop solar programs; rental and low-income household energy programs; bicycle, pedestrian and transit infrastructure; neighborhood resource centers; electric vehicle infrastructure; and tree plantings.

If passed, the city millage will cost house owners $100 per year for every $100,000 in taxable value of their home (which is usually far below the sale value of the home) and will support the city’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and maintaining the infrastructure for carbon neutrality at least through the 20-year life of the millage.