In municipal primary elections held last Tuesday, all the incumbents running to keep their offices won. In Ann Arbor, the mayor and five council members won strong, in some cases overwhelming victories over an insurgent slate. In Ypsilanti, the mayor and the one council member who ran for re-election also won by large margins.

These electoral wins came despite widely publicized anti-incumbent sentiment which claimed only a few victims in the state, most notably Caroline Cheeks Kilpatrick, who lost her congressional seat in the primary.

Ann Arbor

Five-term mayor John Hieftje cruised to victory over Patricia Lesko for the Democratic nomination for mayor, earning 10058 votes (83.91%) to Lesko's 1869 (15.59%). Hiefje will take on Steve Bean, an independent and chairman of the city's Environmental Commission, in the general election in November.

In the First Ward, incumbent Sandi Smith held on against Sumangala Kailasapathy in the closest race in Ann Arbor. Smith received 1004 votes (54.57%) to Kailasapathy's 833 (45.27%).

In the Fourth Ward, incumbent Margie Teall defended her seat against John Eaton with 1448 votes(69.08%) to Eaton's 642 (30.63%).

As of the time of the writing of this article, neither Smith nor Teall have an opponent in the general election.

In the Fifth Ward, incumbent Carsten Hohnke handily defeated Lou Glorie, earning 2415 votes (71.83%) to Glorie's 933 (27.75%). Hohnke will face Republican John Floyd in November. Hohnke managed to receive only 545 votes running unopposed in the Republican primary.

The names of Tony Derezinski of the Second Ward and Christopher Taylor of the Third Ward did not even appear on the primary ballot. Instead, they are going directly to the November ballot, where they will be running unopposed.

Ypsilanti

Incubent Mayor Paul Schreiber staved off a challenge from City Council member and former Mayor Pete Murdock for the Democratic nomination. Schreiber received 1166 votes (59.01%) to Murdock's 802 (40.59%). Schreiber is going on to an uncontested general election in November.

In Ward 1, Ricky Jefferson won a plurality in a three-way contest with Tyrone Bridges and Juanita House for the seat Mayor Pro-Tem Trudy Swanson-Winston left vacant. Jefferson earned 242 votes (45.07%) to Bridges' 184 (34.26%) and House's 110 (20.48%).

Despite Claudia Pettit dropping out in order to comply with the Hatch Act, leaving Daniel Vogt to run essentially unchallenged in Ward 2, she still managed to earn 227 votes (32.99%). Pettit thus held down Vogt to 461 votes (67.01%) as he won the Democratic nomination for the city council seat.

In the one city council race involving an incumbent, sitting city council member easily defended his seat against challenger Ted Windish, receiving 412 votes (73.05%) to Windish's 143 (25.35%).

Like mayor Schreiber, all three Democratic nominees for City Council will be unchallenged on the November ballot.