Three-term incumbent City Clerk Janice Winfrey managed to fend off a surprisingly tough challenge from political newcomer Garlin Gilchrist to retain her seat for another four years. Despite enduring intense criticism of her performance during the 2016 Presidential Election, Winfrey’s reliably strong base of supporters came out in sufficient numbers to deliver her the opportunity to move the office forward in a race that went down to the wire as too close to call until nearly 11:30.
In the end, the voters decided that perhaps it was too soon to crown Gilchrist as victor based solely on the overwhelming adoration heaped upon his campaign by most political observers and media outlets. Winfrey proved that if you have a strong enough connection to the community, it’s not as difficult to weather a media storm. Still, for someone with such little name recognition to have gotten so close to victory on his first time venturing into the fray in a tough political arena like Detroit speaks volumes about his potential future in politics should he chose to pursue that career. It was also a sweat-inducing moment for Winfrey, reminding her yet again how much one mistake can sometimes cost in politics.
But as Winfrey made certain to point out, her entire time in office has not been defined solely by what happened in November 2016, even if that is what has received the most media attention. Ever since her surprise defeat of the late Jackie Curry in 2005, whose administration was mired in corruption, Winfrey has made noticeable strides toward cleaning up the reputation of the office and making commendable changes. In a recent interview with the Chronicle following her primary victory in August, Winfrey defended her office against charges that her staff has been poorly trained and that lack of adequate preparation was the primary reason for the November debacle.
“I take great offense when people say our poll workers are not trained, when we’ve always trained for every election every time. That’s more than what the state requires. The state requires training once every two years. Now I’m training quarterly. I’m training throughout the entire year,” she said. “I’ve administered nearly, if not more than, 24 elections. Twenty-four elections. And probably, for every election that I’ve administered, I’ve gotten some kind of praise and recognition publicly. And then November 2016 happens, and they want to throw the baby away with the water. Part of being a leader is to assess what you’ve done and then make the necessary corrections moving forward. It does not mean you just ignore the previous 24 elections that have been administered. It does not mean that.”
In a time that now seems once upon a time long ago and far away, Gilchrist was given only a 2% chance of winning the August primary election. The assumption was that Winfrey would face off against challenger Heaster Wheeler, someone with much more name-recognition, a higher profile and some notable supporters. But once the dust had settled, Wheeler was out and it was Gilchrist left standing as the one who would be facing off against Winfrey on Tuesday. He came in with 19% of the vote compared to Wheeler’s 12%. Winfrey still won comfortably with more than 50% of the vote. Within a matter of months, Gilchrist, who both during the primary and the general elections managed to raise more than $100,000 each time, nearly tripling Winfrey’s war chest, narrowed Winfrey’s substantial lead in the polls down to within 7 percentage points – with an error margin of plus/ minus 5 %. This was a race that traditionally attracts barely any attention from voters, but suddenly it had become the one to watch. This one had become politically sexy, pitting what some were characterizing as Old Detroit versus New, young energy versus the status quo.
Gilchrist may not have been a household name, but his name was starting to ring out, thanks largely to a well-organized campaign that utilized the strengths of social media extremely well, demonstrating once again his well-documented abilities to turn out the vote same as he did for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. It was an uncharacteristically strong showing for a newcomer in a city where name recognition often trumps all, but in the end it simply wasn’t enough. At least not this time.
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