by P.D. Lesko

Democrat Desirae Simmons, the embattled Ward 3 Ypsilanti City Council member, won her May 7, 2024 recall election against challenger Democrat Rod Johnson. Simmons captured 52.06 percent of the vote. Turnout for the special election, which cost taxpayers around $20,000, was light, only 15.39 percent of the Ward’s 5,830 registered voters went to the polls. A total of 897 voters cast ballots. Simmons won the recall election by just 38 votes.

Simmons reportedly said, “I do think that it makes clear that, you know, a lot of people in the ward are satisfied with my representation. That is vindicating.”

The residents behind the Ypsilanti recall petition cited as justification Simmons’s vote to purchase the 599 S. Mansfield building and land.

The recall effort, launched in Nov. 2023 by Ypsilanti business owners and residents, including former mayor Cheryl Farmer, initially targeted a trio of the city’s elected officials: Simmons, Mayor Nicole Brown and Council member Jennifer Symmons. Symmons resigned her seat on Council in Dec. 2023.

Mayor Nicole Brown’s recall posed a bigger challenge. In just 60 days, recall signature collectors had to obtain 25 percent of 7,167 votes cast by Ypsilanti voters in the 2022 gubernatorial election. This meant signature collectors had to obtain a minimum of 1,792 valid signatures of people registered to vote in the City of Ypsilanti. That signature drive failed.

Rod Johnson, while a former member of the Ypsilanti Planning Commission for 11 years, and a member of the Ypsilanti Community Policing Action Council, had no experience in elected office.

Michigan recall law was changed under former GOP Gov. Rick Snyder to make it more difficult to oust incumbents who chose to appear on the recall election ballot.

Because Ypsilanti elections for local office are partisan, Michigan law required the recalled official’s county political party to nominate a candidate should the recalled official withdraw from the election. Simmons chose to run and so she appeared as the only Democrat in the ballot. Johnson, also a Democrat, was forced by Michigan recall election law to run as an Independent. He was identified as an Independent on the recall ballot.

When asked, Johnson said he was unsure if he would run again.