Most of the candidates who won races in Ann Arbor could be found gathered under one roof Tuesday night — at the Black Pearl restaurant.
That's where Christopher Taylor, who won the mayoral race by a landslide, gathered with dozens of cheering supporters, including outgoing Mayor John Hieftje.
It's also where a few new faces who will join the City Council come November — Kirk Westphal, Julie Grand and Graydon Krapohl — celebrated, along with Chuck Warpehoski, who was re-elected to a second term.
It's also where a few new faces who will join the City Council come November — Kirk Westphal, Julie Grand and Graydon Krapohl — celebrated, along with Chuck Warpehoski, who was re-elected to a second term.
All of those candidates were backed by allies of the mayor, so it was a good night for the mayor's team.
Opposing forces who have been at odds with the mayor and his allies suffered defeat in all but one race — the 1st Ward council race.
Sumi Kailasapathy, a certified public accountant, retained her 1st Ward seat with 56 percent of the vote against political newcomer Don Adams.
Until this election, the balance of power on council had been gradually shifting away from the mayor and his allies in recent years.
If they had lost one more seat, an opposing group that includes Council Members Mike Anglin, Jack Eaton, Sumi Kailasapathy, Stephen Kunselman and Jane Lumm would have had a majority on the 11-member council.
But the tides turned on Tuesday.
Taylor, an attorney who has served on City Council since 2008 and is one of Hieftje's close allies, ran away with a victory over three of his council colleagues — Sabra Briere, Stephen Kunselman and Sally Hart Petersen.
Taylor netted 7,070 votes (48%), while Briere came in second with 2,967 (20%), and Kunselman and Petersen each took 16 percent.
"My message was pretty plain and pretty clear — the city is going in the right direction," Taylor said, adding he thinks that resonated with voters.
"We're not perfect. We need to improve. But generally speaking, we are doing the right things," he said. "We as a city need to focus on providing basic services, and we need to focus on taking progressive action to make people's day-to-day lives better."
Taylor — while favored to become the city's next mayor in a town that leans heavily Democratic — still must face independent Bryan Kelly on Nov. 4.
None of the other council race winners face opposition in the general election, so they're all slated to take office in November.
In the 2nd Ward, Westphal, an urban planner and member of the city's Planning Commission for the past eight years, netted 59 percent of the vote against Nancy Kaplan, a retiree and twice-elected Ann Arbor library trustee.
In the 3rd Ward, Grand, a health policy lecturer who served on the city's Park Advisory Commission for six years, won with 51 percent of the vote against barber Bob Dascola (27%) and University of Michigan student Sam McMullen (21%).
In the 4th Ward, Krapohl, another member of PAC, faced no opposition. He will replace Margie Teall when she steps down in November.
In the 5th Ward, Warpehoski won with 81 percent of the vote against Leon Bryson, who ended his campaign weeks ago but still appeared on the ballot.
During her victory speech, Grand said she's looking forward to bringing "some sanity" back to council.
"I think there's been a big divide, and I don't want to see that big divide," she said. "I want to see everyone willing to compromise, everyone willing to listen, and not just be about one agenda versus another agenda."
Grand said she thinks voters showed they want a mayor and council who will move the city in a positive direction.
Westphal agreed.
"I think we've seen more and more folks attracted to thinking longer-term about what kind of city we are," he said, "and where we're going, and how we can stay healthy in the future, and keep our neighborhoods great, and keep our services intact."
Kunselman and Briere, who will remain on council, offered opposite predictions on what will happen next as the council dynamics change. Kunselman thinks city politics will "settle down" as the Hieftje era comes to an end.
Briere predicts council will be even more divided as Petersen, who was seen as a swing vote, leaves council and is replaced with Westphal. She thinks there will be two clearly polarized factions — each with five members — and herself in the middle.
"I don't belong to a faction," she said. "I don't approve of factions. I think they're destructive."
Noting there already have been 6-5 votes on key issues, Briere added, "I do think there is going to be more of that kind of divided vote, so the compromise necessary to achieve eight votes for a budget issue may be really fascinating to watch."
Kunselman said he's optimistic the council will be able to work together. He said he heard a lot of candidates — including Taylor, Grand and Westphal — talk about the importance of basic services and infrastructure during their campaigns and he's going to hold them to their word and work with them on those issues.
"We will always work together," Kunselman said. "We have for many years, and I expect Chris will do everything he has told the public he will do as mayor, and we're going to be there helping him get a lot of these things done."
Kailasapathy shared some of the same optimism, noting Grand and Westphal both talked about neighborhood priorities in their literature.
"The whole neighborhood vs. downtown issues are going to come up again and we'll have to just see," she said.
Kaplan said it seems to her that Tuesday's vote translates into a continuation of the policies of the Hieftje administration. Though she disagreed with some of her opponent's views on density, she said she's hopeful a good dialogue has been started that could lead to some zoning changes to prevent overdevelopment in the city.
"I know people were very unhappy with 413 E. Huron and perhaps we won't have any more of those," she said, referring to a controversial high-rise now under construction.
Petersen, who will vacate her council seat in November, said she's disappointed that Ann Arbor voters are choosing to keep the "status quo."
"I wanted to have a better relationship with the University of Michigan, which the other candidates didn't think was feasible," she said. "I wanted the city to have an economic strategy to figure out how we're going to fill our potholes. We all want better public safety, we all want better roads, we all want better infrastructure — and I had a plan to pay for that, and obviously that didn't resonate with voters."
Dascola also expressed disappointment that his message of moving in a new direction didn't resonate with voters.
"I know that the Hieftje crowd sort of won out, so it's going to be business as usual and we're not going to see a whole lot of change from what's going on," he said, adding he thinks there will be a continued focus on downtown and new development.
"And I really feel sorry for the people out in the neighborhoods because they're not going to get a fair shake," he said.
Taylor said he would work with all council members as mayor, including those who ran against him or supported one of his opponents.
"I think all members are interested in making Ann Arbor a better place," he said. "Our ultimate and collective goal is to improve people's lives in Ann Arbor."
