Wayne County election results confirmed the winners of several Detroit police commission and community advisory council contests that didn’t include any candidates on the ballot, requiring voters to write in the names of their candidates.
Candidates who aren’t able to gather enough signatures to make the ballot, or decide to run after missing election filing deadlines, can use the write-in option to run for office. Michigan election law requires candidates to file a declaration of intent in order for write-in votes to be counted for them. Voters must also write a candidate’s name correctly for it to be valid.
Results for all write-in candidates were tallied on Election Day. Individual results were posted online after the Wayne County Board of Canvassers certified the vote this week.
There were no candidates on the ballot for Community Advisory Council races in Districts 4, 5 and 7, or Board of Police Commissioners races in Districts 1, 3 and 5.
Board of Police Commissioners
The Board of Police Commissioners is a group of citizens elected to provide civilian oversight of the Detroit Police. Seven of the board’s 11 members are chosen by council district and four are appointed by the mayor. The board was created in 1974 as a response to harms committed by police on residents.
Lavish Williams, Scotty Boman, Victoria Camille and Lisa Carter made the ballot and were elected to the Board of Police Commissioners. Three other seats were filled by write-in candidates.
Incumbent Police Commissioner Linda Bernard lost her District 2 seat to Williams. She earned 205 votes as a write-in candidate while Williams had 19,319 votes.
Six write-in candidates ran for the District 1 seat, which Henrietta Ivey won with 218 votes. Larry Johnson finished second with 120 votes.
Five candidates ran for the District 3 seat. Darious Morris won with 518 votes, followed by Oliver Gantt (106 votes).
Seven candidates ran for the District 5 seat. Beverly Watts won with 1,087 votes, followed by Teron Haynes Jr. (380 votes).
Community Advisory Council
Community Advisory Councils were created to generate more citizen involvement in city government. The members keep the city informed about residents’ and businesses’ needs in their district — especially how well city services and programs are working. Currently, Detroit has three CACs, even though each council district could have one.
Fourteen write-in candidates ran for five seats on the District 4 Community Advisory Council. The five top-vote-earners include Lajoy Morgan (170 votes), Rose Jones (132 votes), Juvette Hawkins-Williams (114 votes), Brenda Butler (91) and Kevin Trotter II (88).
Eleven candidates ran for five seats on the District 5 Community Advisory Council. Dorian Ballard finished first (200 votes), followed by Robbi Sellers (193 votes), Denise Lyles (152 votes), Teresa Davis (141) and Jacob Graham (139).
Eight candidates ran for five seats on the District 7 Community Advisory Council. Winners include Bettina Little (110 votes), Amanda Carswell (109 votes), Clinton Topp (106 votes), Valerie McPhaul (101 votes) and Claude Norwood (44 votes).
Other races
Write-in candidates didn’t make much of an impact in other races for mayor, City Council or clerk. Six write-in candidates ran for mayor, but they collected a negligible amount of support compared to Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield and her opponent, Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Rogelio Landin received five votes, while Delores Scott earned two votes and Angelo Brown had one vote. No votes were recorded for Jeremy Conn or Langston Burke. Sheffield won with 88,285 votes.
Two write-in candidates ran for clerk. Theresa Williams received 42 votes and Articia Bomer received 17 votes. Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey was unopposed on the ballot and was reelected with 101,453 votes.
Council Members James Tate Jr. and Latisha Johnson were unopposed on the ballot but faced write-in challengers. Tashawna Rushin and James Chandler earned nine combined votes as write-ins for District 1. Tate was reelected with 18,226 votes.
Vera Cunningham earned 44 votes as a write-in candidate in District 4, while Johnson was reelected with 13,726 votes.