Armchair Analysis: Where Do Things Stand in Flint After the August 2026 Primary?

Now that the August 2026 primary election is over … who’s ready to do it all again in a few months? Let’s dive right in with some off-the-cuff thoughts and see what the political landscape in Flint looks like now with local races finalized for the November 3 general election.

* NOTE: All reactions below are based on unofficial election results — it takes approximately 14 days for results to be certified.

Flint Mayor

Perhaps not surprisingly, the two most familiar names in the Flint political scene were the two to advance to the general election. Incumbent Mayor Sheldon Neeley (5,132 votes) and Councilperson Tonya Burns (3,913 votes) were the top two vote-getters. Challengers and political newcomers Roshanda Womack (1,709 votes) and Micaiah Owens (1,195) finished third and fourth.

Turnout in the election was significant compared to previous mayoral primaries — there were only about 6,000 ballots cast in 2022 and just over 9,000 in 2019. Neeley received more votes in this primary than he did in either of his previous two. Burns voters turned out as well, as her vote total would’ve been enough to win in 2019 or 2022. Some of that is attributable to more voters turning out for a contentious U.S. Senate primary up the ballot, but it is still good to see more people engaged and paying attention to the mayoral race than in previous primaries.

I hope Womack sticks around in Flint politics. She has long been a community advocate and pillar, and her campaign was refreshingly positive. As a voter, I appreciated all of the spaces she was willing to show up and talk to residents in. Everywhere that I’ve ever seen her appear, she does so with care, honesty, and authenticity, and we need political leadership in the city with those exact qualities.

I hope Owens spends some more time getting to know the city he was running to try and lead after living here just a couple of years. It’s admirable to want to get involved in local politics, but he had blindspots that were hard to overlook (his interview with Flintside, for example, when he said that, “People don’t feel safe using places like the Cultural Center.”).

For Neeley, he’s attempting to become the first Mayor to win a third term in Flint since Woodrow Stanley nearly three decades ago. His challenge heading into November? Of the nearly 12,000 votes cast in the primary, the majority were for other candidates. That hasn’t happened to him since his first primary, when he was running to unseat incumbent Mayor Karen Weaver, PhD, in 2019.

He’ll face Burns, who has been a vocal critic of his administration throughout her tenure on Council. Owens, in particular, ran on a platform that was highly critical of Neeley’s administration, so she’ll look to win over Owens and Womack supporters who may also be craving a leadership change at City Hall.

There are stark differences between both candidates and, according to the vote totals in the primary, large contingents of voters who support Neeley and Burns. That means we can probably expect a competitive general election.

My hope is that the process results in a Flint mayor who is committed to transparency, to creating a working relationship that allows City Council to fulfill its fiduciary oversight responsibility, and to creating more direct and open dialogue with residents.

Flint City Council

All nine Flint City Council seats are up for grabs in November, but only four had primaries to narrow the field down to two candidates. Here were those results:

First Ward: Arthur Woodson (625 votes) and Debra Coleman (471 votes) advanced. Cynthia Haynes, who regularly shares Islamophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, and conspiracy-laden content on her personal social media, finished third (384 votes). Only Woodson responded to our candidate questionnaire for first ward candidates. He’s a longtime community activist, has previously run for office, and often speaks on behalf of residents and various causes he champions in the community at City Council and other local governmental meetings. Woodson has an active Facebook presence for voters seeking more information about him. Coleman also has a Facebook profile for her campaign.

The first ward is currently represented by Leon El-Alamin, who is now running in the third ward after redistricting changed ward boundaries after the 2021 election.

Second Ward: In the most crowded Council race with five candidates, two current City Council representatives emerged from the primary. Ladel Lewis, PhD, the incumbent second ward councilperson, will face current third ward councilperson LaShawn Johnson. Johnson is running in the second ward after redistricting changed her ward’s boundaries.

Johnson won the primary with 698 votes while Lewis finished with 426. Maurice Davis, a former councilman, received 277 votes, Audrey Young received 197, and LaQuindra Hodge finished with 95.

All five candidates participated in our pre-election questionnaire. More information about Lewis is available on her website and Johnson has a Facebook page where she shares information with residents. Johnson has been an ally of Neeley since she won a special election in 2025 to fill a vacant Council seat. Lewis has at times supported the administration’s initiatives with her Council votes, but has also been a swing vote alongside some of her Council colleagues who typically vote against Neeley priorities.

Fifth Ward: With incumbent Jerri Winfrey-Carter not seeking re-election, the fifth ward will have new representation after November. Two newcomers to elected office are vying for the spot, as Joel Arnold (465 votes) and DeWaun Robinson (406 votes) advance to the general election.

Both participated in our pre-election candidate questionnaire. Arnold, who has a background in urban planning and community development work, and Robinson, who has worked in nonprofit management, youth engagement, and community organizing, will now try and win over voters who supported former councilman Wantwaz Davis (364 votes) and businessman Jeron Dotson (95 votes).

Eighth Ward: Current councilman Dennis Pfeiffer announced he wasn’t seeking re-election, so the eighth ward will have new representation. Ezekiel Harris (752 votes) and Casey Lester (406 votes) defeated Brandan Jamison (139 votes). Harris and Lester provided responses in our candidate questionnaire. Harris has a campaign website and Lester has a Facebook page with more information about them.

Harris is a nonprofit executive with community development, real estate, and business experience and Lester works in the banking industry and was formerly on the Flint Board of Education.

I’ll have more to say about Council races in the coming weeks, but for now: we need a Flint City Council that is functional, that understands what its role is, that asks good questions and moves away from the rage baiting tactics past Councils have been known for, and that understands it is important to work with whatever mayoral administration is in office but working productively with the administration does not mean rubber stamping everything on the agenda without fair scrutiny.

Other Election Notes

Here are a few other rapid fire observations from federal, state, and local races:

• Amir Hassan, a Flint native running in the Republican primary for U.S. Congress to face incumbent Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet, somehow lost his primary despite having what seemed like a double advantage in a Republican primary: he had the endorsement of President Donald Trump and his opponent, Thomas J. Smith, had stopped campaigning last month according to the Michigan Advance.
• Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson lost his bid for governor. He was defeated in the Democratic primary. Jocelyn Benson moves on and will face Republican John James in the general election. Swanson’s loss to Benson was by a large margin (by nearly 1 million votes), but he did perhaps unsurprisingly perform well in Genesee County, only losing here by about 3,500 votes.
• If you’ve noticed the handmade ‘Vote for Larry’ signs over the years, the man behind them, Larry Hutchinson, won the Republican primary for 70th district state representative. Hutchinson will face incumbent Democrat Cynthia Neeley. Neeley didn’t have a primary challenge on the ballot, but Mike Clack ran as an official write-in candidate. It’s unclear how many votes he received, but more than 1,000 votes were “unassigned,” so likely a significant number of those will be for him once results are certified. Neeley finished with more than 9,000 votes.
• Voters overwhelmingly passed three millages: the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage, an MTA millage, and an EMS millage. I don’t really have any analysis on this other than it is nice to live in a place that regularly understands that communities can’t thrive without supporting public goods like these. Support for those important causes reaffirms some of the many reasons I live here.
• He no longer lives in Flint, but former Flint City Councilman Matt Schlinker won the Democratic primary for state representative in the 68th district. He’ll face incumbent David Martin in the general election. Schlinker lost to Martin in 2024, but entered that race as a late replacement after Tim Sneller’s death.

There will be plenty of other important local elections on the November ballot in Flint and Genesee County, including seats on the Flint Community Schools Board of Education, the Mott Community College Board of Trustees, millage proposals, and that’s all in addition to choosing a new U.S. Senator and new Governor. We promise to do our best to talk with as many candidates as possible in the coming weeks to help voters have a clearer picture of everyone and everything on the ballot. In the meantime, politicians, pick up your damn yard signs especially the illegally placed ones!