Updated: Schreiber wins decisively in Ypsilanti mayoral race; Ricky Jefferson, Brian Robb and Daniel Vogt win in council races

With all three wards reporting, unofficial results provided by the Ypsilanti City Clerk Frances McMullan showed Schreiber receiving 1,166 votes to Murdock’s 802.

In the Ypsilanti City Council races, Ricky Jefferson won the three-way race in Ward 1, Brian Robb was voted into another term in Ward 3 and Daniel Vogt won as expected in Ward 2.

“I think it’s an affirmation of my campaign message, which was that Ypsilanti is changing from an industrial city to a city of education, arts and entertainment,” Schreiber said. “I found going door-to-door, people are very satisfied with the direction the city is going in spite of the economy.”

Murdock received more votes in Ward 1, beating out Schreiber 306 to 241. But Schreiber edged Murdock in his own backyard, Ward 3, and more than doubled Murdock’s total in Ward 2.

Ricky Jefferson receives the news that he won two out of three precincts on primary night.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

Schreiber attributed his success to residents' approval of his leadership style, which he described as accommodating. He said he will continue to make sure everyone has a voice at council meetings.

“This isn’t the mayor's council, these are the city’s representatives, and I think people appreciate the fact that the decisions are truly the council’s decisions,” he said. “People thought that the team we had in place was the right team, and there wasn’t a reason to change.”

Throughout his campaign, Schreiber highlighted his ability to represent the city regionally. He said the city needs to take advantage of partnerships with with the county on efforts like the Land Bank, as well as continue to work with the Eastern Leaders Group.

He has repeatedly said Ypsilanti has a better image now than ever in recent memory, and believes the trend will continue under his leadership.

"I see us moving in a positive direction and taking advantage of the fact that we are a college town," he said.

Murdock will serve the remainder of his two years on council. He expressed disappointment at the results and said he would have liked his campaign to better get out the message.

“Obviously we would like to the results to be a little different, but it was not to be,” he said.

Murdock said he looks forward to working with two new council members in November.

“All the issues that we talked about during the campaign didn’t go away during the campaign,” he said. “The neighborhood blight, transportation issues and budgetary issues are still there.”

Schreiber said Water Street and the budget continue to be high priorities, and council must immediately worked to help pass the transportation millage. It won overwhelming support on Tuesday, but the vote didn’t count because of a technicality.

“I look forward to working with Pete on it,” he said. “I think it's just one example of things we can work on together … Pete and I have had some disagreements, but that’s part of the political process, and I hope we can work out those disagreements for the betterment of the city.”

Schreiber praised his own supporters and the Murdock campaign.

“I think the Murdock and Schreiber campaigns ran good, hard campaigns and didn’t get into mud slinging,” he said. “I compliment the Murdock campaign."

In the Ward 1 council race, Ricky Jefferson captured 44 percent of the vote. Tyrone Bridges followed with 34 percent, while Juanita House received 20 percent.

Jefferson pledged to follow through with the renovation and stabilization of Parkview Apartments, and vowed to ensure the next appointment to the housing commission can make that happen.

Jefferson said he has lived his whole life in Ypsilanti and believes his character and solid reputation with his neighbors provided a boost.

“They trust that I can deal with issues and deal with them in the proper manner, and not bring any shame on those who support me," he said, adding he looks forward to working with both his opponents on Ward 1 issues.

Bridges, who lost his second straight council race, said he felt like he ran a strong campaign, but voters were ultimately turned off by the fact that he's a convicted felon. Bridges served several years in prison in the early ‘90s for possession and distribution of cocaine.

He commended Ricky Jefferson and called him “a fine guy”.

“I love my supporters with all my heart, but unfortunately they didn’t get to see what leadership I may bring to council,” Bridges said.

Brian Robb won 73 percent of the vote in Ward 3, grabbing 412 votes to Ted Windish’s 143. Robb said the council’s accomplishments over the last four years appealed to voters. He cited the city balancing its budget, saving public safety jobs and setting up a blight court in recent months alone. He also pointed to accomplishments in Ward 3, such as improvements to Prospect Park.

“If you look at the last two years, we accomplished a lot,” he said. “I think I was very good about taking care of constituent needs. Unlike Mr. Windish, I was able to go door-to-door and point to my accomplishments.”

He said he looks forward to working with several new representatives at the council table and hopes they can continue to build off recent successes. He said he hopes to see people in Ypsilanti work together, although it can be “politically dysfunctional.”

“We’ve done some remarkable things that are helping the city,” he said. “Hopefully, everyone will rally around those things, work to move the city forward and continue to advance Ypsilanti.”

Daniel Vogt won in the Ward 2 council race. He defeated Claudia Pettit, who had to drop out of the race due to a technicality.

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.