By David Alexander
INSIDE THE ANN ARBOR Community Center last Sunday afternoon, volunteers peeled covers from shiny aluminum tins, revealing a plethora of corn bread, coleslaw and chili. The scent of food — chili powder, vegetables, starch and protein — wafted across a large, open room in which dozens of local Democrats congregated for the fourth annual Democratic Chili Cook Off.
The event is a forum for local politicians to show up and engage their community, and of course, for everyone to enjoy some food in a relaxed atmosphere.
Although the Ann Arbor Democrats do not partner with the Water Hill Music Fest, Mike Henry, Chair of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, said the cook off was deliberately scheduled on the same day as the music gala.
“We think what [the Water Hill Music Fest is] doing good for our community, and we care about our community,” he said.
Mayoral candidates, local judges, county commissioners and prospective City Council members turned out to show support and solicit votes. The event, which ran from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., featured a DJ and, later in the evening, live music.
Hedieh Briggs, co-chair of the event, said the coordinators strive to create an event where the public can decide to be as involved as they want. The format allows cook off goers to engage as many or as few candidates as they want about the issues that matter to them. Or, if they simply want to attend to learn more about the party and have some great food, they are free to do that as well.
“It’s not about long political speeches,” Briggs said. “It’s about being available to people.”
The event featured 20 entrees for chili—both meat and vegetarian. David Blanchard, a local attorney with Nacht Law, took home the honor of chili ambassador for his meat chili while Debbie Dingell, Chair of Wayne State’s Board of Governors and candidate for the U.S. Congress’ 12th district, and her team took the honor for best vegetarian chili.
Meanwhile, Gary Peters, U.S. Congressman and candidate for the U.S. Senate, won best coleslaw. Local Mexican restaurant Tio’s took home the best corn bread designation.
Henry said the event is good for party camaraderie as teams works together to come up with good recipes. A little light-hearted trash talking never hurt anyone, he said. He also sees the cook off as an analogy to politics.
“We want to ingrain this culture of everybody voting; even if it’s just chili, you should cast your vote … if you are going to come out and vote for chili, why not vote for mayor?” he said. “You keep working at it and get the ingredients you like. You create this cuisine that is satisfying and nourishing to people, and that is how we see politics.”
Active members of the Democratic Party Chris and Anne Savage, of Dexter, said as vegetarians they see spices as the key to good chili. Overall, they said they see the cook off as a chance for good food and good competition.
In fact, several candidates mentioned competition during brief introductions, noting that candidates are running unopposed while the mayoral race is wide open following Mayor John Hieftje’s announcement that he will step down after 14 years in office.
Although the Aug. 5 primaries will see four Ann Arbor City Council members — Sabra Briere, Stephen Kunselman, Sally Hart Petersen and Christopher Taylor, all of whom were present at the cook off — competing against each other for the mayoral seat, many saw the event as a show of party solidarity.
Brad O’Conner, the event’s other co-chair, won the cook off the past two years. Having already won twice, O’Conner saw an opportunity to help in another way—by co-chairing the cook off committee. He said that inclusion and fostering of good will is what the cook off is all about.
“We wanted to reach out to a different segment of Democrats and Independents,” he said. “We are here to show we are a strong party.”