Dana Watson, George Brookover, and Ron Bacon Elected to City Council
With all 17 precincts in the City of East Lansing fully reporting, Dana Watson, George Brookover and Ron Bacon have been elected to City Council, according to unofficial Ingham County results.
Watson and Brookover won the four-year seats that were open on Council. Bacon was elected to serve the two-year term.
Watson and Bacon are incumbents after both were appointed to Council in 2020; Brookover has not served on Council before. This is the first time any of the three have been elected to City Council in East Lansing.
Watson and Brookover were the top two vote getters of the five candidates vying for the pair of open four-year terms.
Of the 8,698 votes cast in the four-year race, Watson took 2,275 (26.16%) and Brookover garnered 2,063 (23.72%). None of the other three candidates — Chuck Grigsby, Daniel Bollman and Adam DeLay — got more than 1,800 votes.
In the two-year race, Bacon comfortably eclipsed challenger Mikey Manuel. Of the 4,419 votes cast in this election, 3,682 (83.32%) went to Bacon. Manuel received 737 (16.68%) of the vote.
All told, 4,706 ballots were cast in the election, meaning some voters left blank one or more spots while still casting a ballot and voting for at least one candidate. Of the 9,412 possible votes — take the 4,706 ballots and double it as each voter can pick up to two candidates — in the four year race, there were 714 not cast.
Similarly, for the two-year contest, 287 ballots were left blank.
The 4,706 ballots were cast from among the 23,021 registered voters in East Lansing for a 20.44% turnout rate.
As of Tuesday night, there were 11 total unresolved write-ins, six for the four-year race and five for the two-year race, respectively.
Do you appreciate ELi’s in-depth reporting on local politics? Support us today!