Missy Lilje
Missy Lilje was an at-large member of the Lansing School District in Michigan. She assumed office in 2017.
Lilje ran for election for an at-large seat of the Lansing City Council in Michigan. She lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Lilje completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Lilje is the chief executive officer of Happendance, Inc. She previously taught dance at Lansing Community College and Michigan State University.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: City elections in Lansing, Michigan (2023)
General election
General election for Lansing City Council At-Large (2 seats)
Tamera Carter and Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu defeated Jody Washington and Missy Lilje in the general election for Lansing City Council At-Large on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tamera Carter (Nonpartisan)  | 34.2 | 8,663 |
| ✔ |  | Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu (Nonpartisan) | 33.3 | 8,425 |
| Jody Washington (Nonpartisan) | 24.3 | 6,148 | ||
 | Missy Lilje (Nonpartisan) | 8.1 | 2,050 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 29 | ||
| Total votes: 25,315 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Lansing City Council At-Large (2 seats)
The following candidates ran in the primary for Lansing City Council At-Large on August 8, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tamera Carter (Nonpartisan) | 26.8 | 5,673 |
| ✔ | | Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu (Nonpartisan) | 20.4 | 4,308 |
| ✔ | Jody Washington (Nonpartisan) | 18.8 | 3,968 | |
| ✔ | | Missy Lilje (Nonpartisan) | 9.9 | 2,097 |
| Farhan Sheikh-Omar (Nonpartisan) | 9.0 | 1,898 | ||
| Olivia Vaden (Nonpartisan) | 7.3 | 1,539 | ||
 | Nicklas W. Zande (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 917 | |
| Keshawn Mitchell-Roland (Nonpartisan) | 3.5 | 738 | ||
| Total votes: 21,138 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lilje in this election.
2016
- See also: Lansing School District elections (2016)
Four of the nine seats on the Lansing School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. These seats included three seats with six-year terms and one seat with a two-year term. The race for the six-year terms featured incumbents Gabrielle Johnson and Amy Hodgin along with challengers Mark Eagle, Melissa Lilje, Ronald Holley, and Stephen Purchase. Johnson, Hodgin, and Lilje defeated Eagle, Holley, and Purchase. Incumbent Nino Rodriguez won a two-year term against Undra Brown III.[2]
Results
| Lansing School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Gabrielle Johnson Incumbent |
23.72% | 19,165 |
| Amy Hodgin Incumbent |
20.57% | 16,621 |
| Melissa Lilje |
17.88% | 14,453 |
| Mark Eagle | 14.10% | 11,391 |
| Ronald Holley | 12.31% | 9,952 |
| Stephen Purchase | 10.69% | 8,637 |
| Write-in votes | 0.74% | 594 |
| Total Votes | 80,813 | |
| Source: Ingham County, "November 8, 2016," accessed December 14, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $15,920.00 and spent a total of $10,306.70 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Ingham County Clerk.[5]
Six-year terms
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabrielle Johnson (incumbent) | $4,060.00 | $3,575.42 | $484.58 |
| Amy Hodgin (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mark Eagle | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Melissa Lilje | $1,570.00 | $698.00 | $872.00 |
| Ronald Holley | $5,255.00 | $3,470.20 | $1,784.80 |
| Stephen Purchase | $2,070.00 | $436.08 | $1,633.92 |
Two-year term
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nino Rodriguez (incumbent) | $2,965.00 | $2,127.00 | $837.23 |
| Undra Brown III | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Missy Lilje completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lilje's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- As a mom, I’m concerned about public safety and I’m laser focused on getting to the root of the issues that lead people to commit crimes. I would look toward the recommendations made by the Mayor’s Racial Justice and Equity Alliance and listen to other groups focused on making sure people have their basic needs met in order to survive and participate in our community. I will support efforts to ensure the police department is fully staffed as there are currently several vacancies, and support the hiring of more social workers to the police department.
- I’ve been proud of my work on the Lansing school board to pass balanced budgets and be smart with the city's taxpayer money. I will bring this same level of attention and responsibility when considering the city’s budget as a member of the city council. We need to increase accountability among city departments to ensure operations are funded as necessary while also finding ways to cut costs, excluding police, fire, and services for residents. Additionally, increased economic development and embracing businesses throughout the city will be vital for the long term survival of the city, so that when tax revenue is higher from a healthy economy, we can reach a point of sustainability.
- One issue that I’m passionate about is normalizing individuals working on promoting equity and examining their own conscious bias. This way we can have a more diverse and empathetic approach to solving issues in the city. For me, this includes attending workshops about how to be more inclusive to people outside of my own “communities” that I belong to. To go along with this, I’m passionate about conducting business and entering debates with kindness and respect. As a member of the city council, I’ll always be mindful of how I treat colleagues and members of the public who are there to make their voices heard.
Robin Moore, Lansing School Board Vice President
Nino Rodriguez, Lansing School Board Member
Guillermo Lopez, Lansing School Board Member
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
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Candidate Lansing City Council At-Large |
Footnotes
- ↑ Lansing State Journal, "Millage spending, test scores key issues in Lansing school election," October 20, 2016
- ↑ Ingham County, Michigan, "Ingham County Candidate List," accessed August 31, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Ingham County Clerk, "Document Search & Online Marriage Application," accessed October 30, 2016
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