How to Run for City Council in Michigan

To run for city council in Michigan in 2027, your city must be one whose charter sets its elections in odd-numbered years, and your seat must be on the 2027 ballot. You then file two copies of a notarized Affidavit of Identity and a nominating petition with your city clerk. In a city with an August primary, the deadline is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, 2027. In a city whose charter nominates by petition straight to the November ballot, it is 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20, 2027. The signature number comes from your charter or, if the charter sets none, from a state chart based on population. For a ward seat, your signers must be registered in your ward.

Michigan leaves most council rules to each city's charter, including qualifications, terms and how the council is elected (MCL 168.321). This guide covers the steps every council candidate takes and the questions to ask your clerk. The 2027 dates are computed from state law, so confirm each one with your city clerk.

For the full picture of a Michigan city race, including the mayor's office and the voter dates, see our guide to running for local office in Michigan.

Step 1: Confirm that your seat is on the 2027 ballot

Only some Michigan cities hold regular elections in 2027. State law lets a city keep odd-year elections or move them to even years by a council resolution (MCL 168.642, 168.642a), and the Bureau of Elections advises consulting "your city charter and any associated resolution to determine your schedule." Ask your city clerk four questions before you do anything else:

1. Does the city hold a regular election in 2027?
2. Which council seats are on the ballot? A council may have staggered terms. Grosse Pointe Farms' 2025 filing page, for example, describes staggered four-year council terms with elections every odd year.
3. Is my seat elected by ward or at large? A charter may create wards, and if council members are chosen by wards, each ward must have equal representation (MCL 117.3). Ask which ward your home is in.
4. Is the ballot partisan or nonpartisan, and is there an August primary? The charter decides both (MCL 117.3).

Michigan.gov/Vote lists your clerk's office.

Step 2: Check that you qualify

Your charter sets the qualifications for council (MCL 168.321; MCL 117.3). Ask the clerk for that section of the charter, and look for any minimum period of residence in the city or in the ward. The Bureau of Elections notes that candidates generally must be "qualified and registered" electors in the jurisdiction where they run, so check that your voter registration shows your current address.

On the Affidavit of Identity, you swear that you are a United States citizen and that you meet the constitutional and statutory qualifications for the office (MCL 168.558). The affidavit is signed before a notary, and a false statement on it is perjury, a felony.

If you file for more than one office with overlapping terms, you must choose one within three days after the filing deadline, unless the offices are combined or not incompatible, or you are disqualified for each (MCL 168.558).

Step 3: Find your signature number

Start with the charter. If your charter sets a signature number for council, the charter controls.

If the charter is silent, use the state chart. The minimum comes from MCL 168.544f, based on "the population of the district involved according to the most recent federal census" (MCL 168.644f). For a ward seat, ask your clerk which population figure applies.

Charter examples. Holland's 2025 council election page required ward candidates to file "not less than 20 and not more than 40" signatures from their ward, and at-large candidates "not less than 60 signatures of qualified electors with at least 10 from each of the six wards." Grosse Pointe Farms required 50 to 70 valid signatures for council in 2025. These are 2025 examples only; ask your own clerk for 2027.

Stay under the maximum. The Bureau of Elections says a candidate "may only submit up to the maximum number of signatures" for the office. If you are short before the deadline, you may file supplemental signatures, as long as your total stays within the maximum.

Step 4: Collect the signatures

The rules for who may sign are strict, and they shape how you plan your drive.

• Registered in the right place on the day they sign. Signers must be registered to vote in your city, and in your ward if the seat has one, on the date they sign.
• One city per sheet. Each petition sheet lists one city or township, and every signer on it must be registered there (MCL 168.544c). If your city crosses a county line, each signer uses a sheet that lists their own county.
• One signature per seat. A voter may not sign more petitions for the same office than there are people to be elected (MCL 168.544c). If three at-large seats are open, a voter may sign for up to three candidates.
• In person only. Every signature is made in the circulator's physical presence. A virtual signature is not valid, and a circulator may never leave a sheet unattended.
• The circulator signs last. The circulator, who must be at least 18 and a United States citizen, completes and dates the certificate at the bottom of the sheet after collecting the last signature. A signature dated after the certificate does not count.

Beacon's guide to Michigan nominating petitions walks through each line of the sheet and how to plan a petition drive door to door.

Step 5: File by the deadline

1. Complete the Affidavit of Identity. Use the Bureau of Elections' "Affidavit of Identity and Receipt of Filing" form. Write the office with its ward or district, the election date, the term and exactly how your name should appear on the ballot. Sign it in front of a notary; the date of notarization must match the date you sign.
2. File two copies with your petitions. Take both copies and all of your petition sheets to the city clerk's office (MCL 168.558). Your filing counts only when every part is in the clerk's physical possession, so do not rely on the mail.
3. Get a receipt. The clerk should give you a filing receipt showing the date, the time and the number of sheets.

For an April 20 filing, you may withdraw in writing until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 23, 2027, and written challenges to specific signatures may be filed until Tuesday, April 27, 2027 (both based on state law). Keep a copy of every sheet you file.

Step 6: Primary or straight to November

After the filing deadline, the clerk counts the candidates. If no more than twice as many candidates as seats have filed nonpartisan petitions for an office, no primary is held for it, and the candidates with valid petitions go straight to November, unless the charter provides otherwise (MCL 168.644f). Holland's 2025 page described the same pattern: a primary only when more than two candidates filed for an office.

If your race has a primary, it is on Tuesday, August 3, 2027. Absent voter ballots become available on Thursday, June 24, and the last day to register online or by mail is Monday, July 19 (both based on state law). Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Our Michigan 2027 city election calendar lists every date through the November 2 election.

For a ward seat, most of the work is meeting voters at their doors. As an example only: if you and two volunteers each knock on 50 doors a week for twelve weeks, the three of you would reach about 1,800 doors before the primary. An at-large seat is citywide, so plan for more volunteers.

Step 7: Keep supporters informed by text

A short text at the right moment tells supporters when absent voter ballots are available and when to vote. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ before June.

1. Settle your committee first. Texting from a registered number for a campaign requires Campaign Verify, a check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. In Michigan, a city candidate's committee files with the county clerk, so ask that office whether your filing is viewable online, and contact Campaign Verify Support if it is not. Request it on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026, so it lasts until January 31, 2029. It costs $95, and Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
2. Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it.
3. Add only supporters who agreed in writing. Use a sign-up sheet at doors and events that plainly says the person agrees to receive campaign texts, and record the date. Never treat your petition as a texting list. In CampaignCNX+, put these supporters in a group and record the consent date and source in a custom field.
4. Schedule a reminder. Use the first-name merge field so each text is addressed to the person, and end the first message with the opt-out line:

Hi [First name], this is [Name], running for [City] Council. Absent voter ballots for the Aug 3 primary are available now. Reply STOP to opt out.

Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.

Get your filing in order now

Confirm that your seat is on the 2027 ballot, read your charter's qualifications and signature rules, and pick up petition sheets well before April. When you are ready to keep supporters informed by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.