Three dozen candidates are running to join a board tasked with revising Lansing’s principal governing document. The filing deadline for the Lansing Charter Commission was this week, as the city prepares to seat the nine-member board during a special election May 7.
Voters authorized the charter revision process in November, which will allow the commission to consider changes to Lansing’s government structure, powers and rights. The city’s last charter was adopted in 1978.
The board will have three years to finalize a draft proposal before bringing the revised charter to residents for a vote.
Lansing election officials say all 36 candidates qualified to run by paying a $100 filing fee ahead of the Jan. 23 deadline.
“There's such a mix of people,” Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope said. “There’s probably nobody in the city of Lansing that doesn’t know one of them.”
While the charter commission ballot will appear during an off-season spring election, Swope said the high volume of candidates is likely to drive turnout. Many of Lansing’s 88,000 registered voters will find out about the special election through the U.S. Postal Service.
“We have over 15,000 people on the permanent mail ballot list and those people are just automatically going to have a ballot show up at their house,” Swope said.
The city clerk’s office is planning to make announcements about the special election during city council meetings and through local publications and social media.
The charter commission candidates are required to register their campaign committees with the Ingham County Clerk ahead of the May 7 election, while adhering to Michigan’s campaign finance reporting deadlines.
Candidates for the Lansing Charter Commission
- Julie Vandenboom
- Jody Washington
- Nicklas W. Zande
- Randy Dykhuis
- Heath B. Lowry
- Michele K. Fickes
- Ted O'Dell
- Stephen Purchase
- Mitch Rice
- Lori Adams Simon
- Ben Dowd
- Joan Bauer
- Corwin Smidt
- Muhammad A. Qawwee II
- Elizabeth Driscoll Boyd
- Jazmin Anderson
- Monte D. Jackson II
- Jesse Lasorda
- Tim Knowlton
- Simon Terhaar
- Samuel Klahn
- Ross Yednock
- Derek Melot
- Britt Houze
- Brian Jeffries
- Dedria Humphries Barker
- Layna Anderson
- Jason Wilkes
- Miranda Swartz
- Erica Lynn
- Justin Sheehan
- Jerry Norris
- Keith Williams
- Guillermo Z. Lopez
- Douglas VanBuren Mulkey
- Stan S. Shuck
Candidates listed by filing date, from earliest to latest.
