Proud To Be An American

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the most important thing that ever happened to her was becoming an American. "I'm an immigrant. I'm a refugee," Albright told a crowd of several dozen mostly women at a women's organizing event for Hillary Clinton in Ann Arbor on Friday, Oct. 14, inside the home of Gil Omenn and Martha Darling. Read the story.

The H Is O

Chess Match Of Mayoral Proportions

Ann Arbor mayoral candidates Bryan Kelly, left, and Christopher Taylor play a game of chess following a mayoral candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Wednesday night inside CTN studios. They had to clear out before they could finish, so they called it a draw. The two candidates will face off again in the Nov. 4 election.

Four For Four

From left to right, Democrats David Rutledge, Gretchen Driskell, Adam Zemke and Jeff Irwin will represent Washtenaw County in the Michigan House of Representatives for the next two years. For the past two years, Washtenaw County had two Republican and two Democratic representatives in the House but Rick Olson and Mark Ouimet are on their way out. Read my Q&A with Irwin, D-Ann Arbor.

Reign Supreme

Ann Arbor's Bridget McCormack garnered national attention in September when the cast of the West Wing reunited to make a video supporting her campaign for Michigan Supreme Court. The video clocked more than 1 million views on YouTube, and so maybe it's no surprise that Michigan voters remembered McCormack's name on Tuesday when they went to the polls. Read my Q&A with McCormack.

Dems Unite

An energetic crowd of Democrats rallied Monday night on Election Eve at the Ford School at the University of Michigan. Go here for a slideshow with captions.

Vote Early, Vote Often

Michigan doesn't have true early voting, but a steady stream of absentee voters have been making their way to city hall to cast ballots in recent days. The Ann Arbor clerk's office has set up special absentee voting booths in the hallway outside its second-floor offices to accommodate the strong demand. City Clerk Jackie Beaudry said her office issued 12,971 absentee ballots as of 5 p.m. Thursday and 8,423 (65 percent) had been returned with four days left to go. Read the story.

Building A New Library

In addition to deciding on a $65 million bond proposal for a new downtown Ann Arbor library, local voters get to elect four library board members on Nov. 6. Five candidates are competing for four seats on the seven-member board of trustees that governs the Ann Arbor District Library. Read the story.

And Justice For All

Voters on Nov. 6 will get the rare opportunity to fill an open seat on Washtenaw County's 22nd Circuit Court bench and it's a choice between two attorneys who are political opposites. Ann Arbor resident Carol Kuhnke, a pro-choice Democrat, is running against Ypsilanti resident Jim Fink, a pro-life conservative who leans Republican. Read the story.

Dingell vs. Kallgren

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and his Republican opponent, Cynthia Kallgren, disagreed on issues ranging from health care to the federal deficit at a Wednesday afternoon candidate forum hosted by the West Washtenaw Business Association. Read the story.

Andy LaBarre Wins

Primary Night in Ann Arbor — Aug. 7, 2012

Three new faces will join the Ann Arbor City Council in November after Tuesday's primary turned out wins for Sumi Kailasapathy, Sally Hart Petersen and Chuck Warpehoski. That means Mayor John Hieftje and his ruling coalition have three months before they lose their 7-4 majority. Meanwhile, Andy LaBarre won his race for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, and Adam Zemke won his race for state representative in the 55th District. Evan Pratt came out ahead in his race for county water resources commissioner, and attorneys Jim Fink and Carol Kuhnke advanced as 22nd Circuit Court judicial candidates. Read an analysis on how the council races played out.

TBD: To Be Destroyed

With less than a week to go until Tuesday's primary, congressional candidate Daniel Marcin acknowledges his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. John Dingell is a long shot. In an interview with AnnArbor.com, the Ann Arbor Democrat conceded he'll be happy if he gets 15 percent of the vote against the 29-term congressman from Dearborn. "But he's raised like 500 times more money than I have, so he has to get 500 times more votes than me for it to be a success," he said half-jokingly. Read the story.