It's Garris In Upset

Jack J. Garris "officially" became a Republican only about four months ago. Today he is that party's nominee to run for mayor of Ann Arbor. Puiling one of the major coups in Ann ) Arbor political history, Garris upset GOP party choice Louis D. Belcher by a . 600-vote margin in yesterday's primary election. I The 51-year-old attorney now goes on, [to face Democratie Mayor Robert J. Harris in the April 5 City Council election. Just as in the primary, Garris will be in the underdog's role for the April, election. Officially, the city Republican party will be endorsing Garris in the election. But there is a question whether some of the more moderate members of the j ty will support the man who is considered a conservative. Garris polled 4,814 votes in yesterday's primary compared to 4,208 for Belcher. Lewis C. Ernst ran a distant third with 311 votes. Harris, running unopposed in the primary, was given 3,243 votes. Ann Arbor's west side provided the margin of victory for Garris, who hit strongly during the campaign on the L"law and order" issue- the same topic Iwhich proved so successful for RepubliI cans in last April's election. A constant critic of the Harris I j administration over the past 18 months, Garris piled up . a near 900-vote margin on the west side in the Fourth nd Fifth Wards while Belcher was canvyirig the three east side wards by abou'J 250 votes. Garris won in 26 of the city's 35 precincts and tied Belcher in another. Belcher's strongest showing was in the Second Ward where he outpolled Garris 563 votes to 343 votes. Early returns at the city clerk's office saw Garris take the lead and build upon it. His margin had bulged to nearly 500 votes after 11 precincts had reported. But Garris' supporters became a little jittery when this margin was cut to only 250 after 17 percincts were tallied. The margin, however, climbed back to the 500 mark with seven more precinct counts and the election- for all intents and purposes- was over at that point. Belcher and other GOP party leaders met with Garris after the results were I conclusive and pledged support in the I coming campaign. Garris began work immediately today { on the coming eampaign, and said he'll I run much the same type as he did in the I primary. "There were a lot of people I working for me," Garrís said, adding he I feit confident he could win "but we ran I scared all the way." Garris says he believes he won a I majority of the independent vote, and I also said he received support from a I number of Democratie ballots. "Belcher I put on a tremendous race," the I ous candidate added. Asked why he switched political ties, Garris said "the Democratie party I doesn't represent the principies I I endorse." Garris' statement that Belcher ran a "tremendous" eampaign is disputed by many party leaders who feit the former GOP city chairman did not do enough. "We got out-hustled and out-monied," Belcher said of the surprise results. He said he had a limited amount of time to get his name before the public, stating he was not well known outside of party circles when he was chosen by the city committee to run in December. "There is no question the Republican party will pull together," Belcher said. "We did not have a bloody primary election." "We didn't get enough of the vote out that we wanted to," Belcher said, adding "we did well in the precincts in which we went door to door." Belcher said it appears his forces made a strategie mistake in the way the "limited time available was spent. As city chairman, Belcher was on the 'committee which was to select a GOP candidate for mayor. "Garris has been running for mayor for a year and a half," Belcher added. Asked if he was initially interested in running for mayor, Belcher said he was not, that he had considered running for a council ward seat. But after he got into the race, he added, he wanted to win. Garris captured 51.5 per cent of the votes cast in the GOP mayoral race, with Belcher taking some 45 per cent of the ballots. Ernst totaled only slightly more than 3.3 per cent of the vote. Noting he has been elected to some office in 16 of the past 20 years, Garris said his primary eampaign was a lowbudget one. He estimatesv .some $4,000 was spejit on his behalf, while Belcher (over please)
said his campaign cost about iÖoÖ" "Belcher got the hard-core Republican votes," Garrís said. "We received support from a wide range of people- Republicans, Democrats and Independents." Following is a breakdown of the unofficial mayoral vote totals by wards: FIRST WARD: Garrís 521, Belcher 517, Ernst 33, Harris 886. SECOND WARD: Garrís 343, Belcher 563, Ernst 39, Harris 766. THIRD WARD: Garrís 1,089, Belcher 1,136, Ernst 98, Harris 585. FOURTH WARD: Garrís '1,450, Belch1,079, Ernst 86, Harris és. FIFTH WAR1): Garrif 1,413, Belcher 913, Ernst 55, Harris 568. TOTALS: Garrís 4,814, Belcher 4,208 Ernst 311, Harris 3,243.