Unions 3, Chamber 1 in Council elections; taxes, Red Cedar win

The Chamber of Commerce took it on the chin in Tuesday’s Lansing elections.

Three out of four Chamber candidateslost. Its biggest target, Derrick Quinney, won reelection despite awave of fliers sent by a chamber political front group and anonymousrobocalls that most observers assume were coming from the chamber aswell.

In the 1st Ward, chamber-backedcandidate Lynne Martinez lost a squeaker to Jody Washington, who likeQuinney has the overwhelming support of the unions.

Mayor Virg Bernero had a mixed night:His administration won two ballot proposals: a 4-mill property taxincrease for police, fire and local roads, and the right to sell 12.68acres of the defunct Red Cedar Golf Course to developers.

But two candidates he’d hoped for on theCouncil lost: Martinez and Rory Neuner in the At-Large race. Thechamber also backed both of them, as it did Tom Stewart, who came infourth in the At-Large contest.

Carol Wood, another incumbent withstrong union support, won re-election easily. But the unions lost inthe 3rd Ward, where they backed Jason Wilkes against incumbent A’LynneRobinson, the chamber’s sole winner.

In the Lansing School Board races,incumbent Nicole Armbruster led the contest for three seats, followedby Peter Spadafore and Rachel Lewis.

City Pulse writers Andy Balaskovitz and Kyle Melinn made the rounds of campaign parties. Here are their reports: