This year, the residents of Lansing will choose their next mayor. On Aug. 5, the city will hold a primary to narrow the field of candidates.
Incumbent Mayor Andy Schor is one of two candidates who currently hold offices in Lansing. Three others are first-time political candidates. The primary is nonpartisan and the top two vote getters move to the general election in November.
More than just the capital
We asked first-time candidate David Ellis what he likes about the city. For him, like all of the candidates, Lansing is more than just a place to live and work.
"I've traveled around the U.S. a lot and I found that nothing, nothing feels like Lansing," Ellis said.
With a population of about 112,000, according to the U.S. Census, Lansing is the sixth most populous city in Michigan. It's best known as the state's capital and state government is the biggest employer in the city.
It's also home to two General Motors assembly and stamping plants and a parts facility. Auto-Owners Insurance Group has its headquarters in Lansing, employing nearly 6000 people, according to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership.
Over the past couple of weeks, Michigan Public's Morning Edition interviewed all of the people running for mayor. Here's our look at the candidates (in alphabetical order) and their priorities.
Brett Brockschmidt
As mayor, Brett Brockschmidt said he would work with state legislators to "lighten the load" on those who can't afford the current tax rates and increase the taxes on businesses who can.
"I want to work towards reforming state issues as mayor and then try and find some other revenue sources as well," he said.
Brockschmidt is 63. He attended Michigan State University, and after a career in finance, he moved back to Lansing to retire five years ago.
Today, Brockschmidt lives in a duplex in Lansing's Eastside neighborhood, and rents out the second unit. He wants to put a five-year freeze on property tax assessments for homeowners and small-scale landlords like himself.
"To give landlords and renters some breathing space," he said. "Because every time there's a property tax increase, rents increase."
Brockschmidt also told us he would prioritize sidewalk repair and improve city services.
Jeffrey Brown
Jeffrey Brown is a current Lansing City Councilmember. Brown is 41. He was elected to one of the city's at-large seats in 2021.
We asked all the candidates about their top priorities, if elected.
"If you believe in Lansing and you love Lansing — have faith and love — then you need to take action. And so my message is simple: I believe that it's time that we uplift Lansing. One community, one mission, and do it together," Brown said.
Asked if there were specific areas where he'd like to see that uplifting or improvement, he said, "I think it's very important to prioritize Lansing. And Lansing is, you know, we call it a city, but every city is simply the people, so my priority is the people. Period."
Brown holds a doctorate in ministry and Christian leadership from Kingdom University International Bible College. He's also worked with a number of agencies in Michigan and Oklahoma that provide social services, including rehabilitation, mental health support, and in-home care.
He said he plans to do a lot of listening to identify residents' top concerns.
"If I'm elected as mayor, I would really go throughout the community, every corner, every neighborhood."
By running for mayor, Brown gave up the chance to run for reelection to his council seat, which is on the same election schedule as the mayor's office. Brown's current term will expire on Jan. 1.
David Ellis
David Ellis is 26 years old and lives downtown. He said investment in the city's core is key to Lansing's development. For Ellis, that looks like improved transit access and better pedestrian and cyclist safety.
"Our downtown is empty," Ellis said. "So a huge part of my campaign is just looking at this not as a, 'Oh, downtowns are hip, and we want to look like Grand Rapids.' This is a huge economic engine and our economic engine isn't working right."
He also wants to change zoning laws to help tackle the city's housing shortage.
"The solution to that problem is very simple. It is build more housing. It is allow denser housing to be built, streamline processes so that housing can be built cheaper and faster."
Housing shortages and the cost of housing were common topics in all our interviews with the candidates. Ellis said his experiences as a low-income resident means he can better relate to working class Lansing voters.
Kelsea Hector
Kelsea Hector is currently the executive director of a community outreach group called Punks with Lunch Lansing. The organization collects food, warm clothing, and cash donations and distributes them to those in need.
"I work with a lot of unhoused folks," Hector said. "We do a lot of you know, going to encampments and checking up on people."
Hector is 33 and recently helped start a new tenants rights center in Mid-Michigan.
"The shelters are overburdened. We know that Lansing doesn't really have any transitional housing," Hector said.
"I think we could do a lot better job of bringing more people to the table to make sure that we're not missing an opportunity to holistically grow instead of just concentrating on the development portion to just get people from outside our city, into our city."
Hector previously taught middle school science, has a strong interest in ecology, and wants Lansing to invest in urban agriculture. They also named government transparency among their priorities.
Andy Schor
The fifth and final candidate, alphabetically, is current Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, who is 50 years old. He's held the office since 2018. Schor previously served as a state representative and as an Ingham County commissioner.
We asked Schor to list his top priorities, if he's reelected.
"Economic development and housing. Public safety. And roads, sidewalks, and infrastructure."
The city estimates it would take $300 million to do a complete fix of Lansing roads. Schor says the city currently has $17 million available — $14 million from the state and $3 million from local tax dollars. He said he plans to continue to push state leaders for more road funding.
"With the money we have, we are fixing main roads and we're doing snow plowing and we're getting potholes filled within 48 hours. But it's very difficult to fix neighborhood roads because we don't receive the funding we need from the state. And I don't want to raise taxes from our residents to have to do it," he said.
Like all of the candidates, Schor sees housing as a critical issue. He highlighted a number of new housing developments that have been completed or started since he's been mayor. Schor also noted that this spring the city launched a housing rehabilitation program to help current qualified owners pay for repairs to their houses.
We asked Schor if there were any goals he hadn't accomplished in his first two terms.
"Oh, that's a good question. Life O'Riley was an old mobile home park. That was a terrible situation before I was mayor. They were dumping sewage on the ground. The previous administration basically was able to get that closed down," Schor said.
"And we've been trying to get that marketed to create housing. I actually think that we're close now and talking to some folks about doing it, but we haven't been able to get that repurposed yet."
Voting notes
The city will hold its mayoral primary on Aug. 5. The top two vote getters will advance to the general election in November.
Despite the importance of the race, August primaries don't tend to have strong turnouts. Just under 15% of eligible voters participated in the city's last mayoral primary.
Absentee voting is underway. Early in-person voting in Lansing begins July 30.
