Familiar candidates win under ranked-choice voting in Eastpointe

Eastpointe – An incumbent and a former mayor have been elected to the city council under an unusual election method known as ranked-choice voting.

Voters in Eastpointe ranked four candidates for two council seats Tuesday. The preferences were shifted and counted until there were two winners with slightly more than 33.3% of the vote.

Incumbent Sarah Lucido won after the first round. Harvey Curley won a seat after the second round.

Ranked-choice voting was the result of a lawsuit settlement between Eastpointe and the U.S. Justice Department. The government claimed white voters had acted as a bloc to dilute the voting power of black residents in citywide council races.

Lucido and Curley are white. Separately, Eastpointe elected its first black mayor, Monique Owens. Ranked-choice voting was not used in the mayor’s race.