Ypsilanti city voters have rejected a proposal that would make future city elections nonpartisan and approved another that would put police funding to a public vote.
Nearly two-thirds of Ypsilanti voters made their voices clear to reject nonpartisan elections in Proposal A. City Councilmember Patrick McLean says it was gratifying to see that result. He says people generally don’t like having a candidate who failed to secure the majority sitting on city council.
“People really don't like the idea of not having a primary and having kind of the Wild West of six, eight, 10 candidates running for something and with a winner potentially getting 10, 15% of the vote.”
McLean says he’s disappointed by the passage of Prop B. He says police budgetary decisions fall under the council’s purview. He says the proposal’s language violates the city charter and the state constitution. He adds this could bring instability to local government.
“It’s a recipe for chaos and it's a recipe for probably lawsuits.”
McLean says the majority of city council will continue supporting the Ypsilanti Police Department and its chief.
This story is part of a series previewing major local races in the 2026 midterm elections. Click here for more of WEMU's local election coverage.
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