City of Lansing residents have spoken. Jeremy Garza who served two terms representing Lansing’s 2nd Ward has won a spot serving the City from an At-Large seat. Peter Spadafore who had been a two term At-Large councilmember, decided to run for the city’s 4th Ward seat vacated by Brian Jackson. He defeated Heath Lowry 59%-41%. Both Garza and Spadafore will serve 4 year terms.
The 2026 Lansing City Council has two newcomers named Martinez (not related) who will both serve 4 year terms. Clara Martinez finished first in the At-Large contest with 33% to Garza’s 30%. They both defeated Julie Vandenboom (27%) and Aurelius Christian (10%).
Deyanira Nevarez Martinez, who currently serves on the Lansing school board, received 72% of the Ward 2 votes beating Erik Almquist who pulled in 28% of the vote.
Mayor Andy Schor defeated Kelsea Hector with 67% of the vote to Hectors 33%. Mayor Schor will be serving his 3rd term as he was first elected to serve as Mayor back in January 2018.
Lastly, the Lansing City Charter Proposal passed handily by a 66% to 34% margin. One of the biggest components of the Proposal was the keeping of a “strong arm Mayor” as opposed to a “City Manager” who would run the city instead of a mayor.
Two other changes coming from that Proposal will expand the council to 9 seats instead of the current 8 beginning January 1, 2030. Starting with the primary election in August 2029, all 9 seats will be up for grabs at the same time instead of the current format of 4 council seats up for election every 2 years.
Candidates in the 2029 election will run in the 5 wards and 4 at-large seats for terms beginning at noon on 01/01/2030. In other words, the City Council will have 8 members until noon on 01/01/2030 which at that point, becomes a 9 person council.
Mayor Andy Schor website: https://www.andyschor.com/#mayor-schor
Jeremy Garza website: https://www.votejeremygarza.com/
Clara Martinez website: https://www.claraforlansing.com/
Deyanira Nevarez Martinez website: https://dnmforlansing.com/
Peter Spadafore website: https://www.peterspadafore.com/
Remaining Council members:
Trini Pehlivanoglu LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinidadpehlivanoglu/
Tamera Carter: https://www.facebook.com/tameracarterforlansing
Ryan Kost: https://www.lansingmi.gov/260/Council-Members
Adam Hussein: https://www.facebook.com/adamhussain3rdward
Publishers note: If you are not keeping score at home, half of the Lansing City Council is Latino.
