Julie Garcia

Lansing State Journal

LANSING — State Rep. Andy Schor will have a new title Jan. 1 — Mayor Schor of Lansing.

With all 34 precincts counted, unofficial results show Schor with 72% of the vote with At-Large Council Member Judi Brown Clarke trailing at 28%.

Speaking at a vote watching party at Lansing Brewing Co., Schor said he is ecstatic with the result after working on his campaign for nine months.

“The voters clearly responded and we had a good conversation over the summer about the issues. We talked about neighborhoods, we talked about roads and infrastructure. We talked about education and jobs," he said.

"These are the issues I started talking about in February and March and the vision we put together. We talked about a leadership style and working with our neighbors and now we’re going to get a chance to do all of these things.”

Brown Clarke is looking forward to the next steps after she finishes out the year as an at-large council member.

"I'm not exactly sure what I will do," Brown Clarke told the State Journal. "I have enjoyed being in politics and would like to continue, so I am looking forward to opportunities that present."

She congratulated Schor on being elected mayor and said she wishes him the best in taking the city's reins.

"I hope everyone appreciates the fact that we focused on the issues, and we kept it nice and clean and civil campaign," Brown Clarke said. "I'm disappointed in the results but I appreciate the people who had belief in me. I'm disappointed I wasn't able to pull out a win for them again, but there's always other opportunities. I definitely want to continue to help make this a better city."

In the Lansing City Clerk's race, incumbent Chris Swope sailed to an easy victory. Unofficial results showed he pulled 85% of the vote to challenger Jerimic Clayborn's 15%.

Lansing voters also voted 58% to 42% to permit the sale of the Cooley-Haze House, according to unofficial results.

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Lansing Mayor-elect Andy Schor names staff picks

2017 Election results for Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties

The race to replace Schor, D-Lansing, in the Legislature's 68th House District could be crowded.

Already, four Democrats — Grant Bradley, Farhan Sheikh-Omar, Benjamin Guins and Elisabeth Anderson — have filed to run and will compete in a primary next August. No Republicans had filed for the traditional Democratic stronghold as of Monday.

The winner of this contest could get some extra time in the seat.

Schor will move to City Hall on Jan. 1, leaving a full year of his final term in the House. Gov. Rick Snyder could call a special election for voters to pick someone to serve in that seat for 2018, or the governor could leave the seat vacant for most of the year and let the winner of next fall's election take the seat early.

Schor said the "tremendous support" means that people are ready for change in Lansing. This means working more closely with City Council and neighboring communities.

By 10:15 p.m., new City Council members Jeremy Garza and Brian Jackson had joined the party at the brewery, which Schor shared with new Council Member At-Large Peter Spadafore. All the winners congratulated each other.

"I've got great relationships with those coming in (to City Council) and those that are there now. We're going to work together," Schor said ."I'm going to seek their input and share with them my vision. We're not always going to agree, but when we disagree, it's going to be respectful and we'll move on to the next thing.

"We're going to do what is best for the city of Lansing."