Flintside Launches New Initiative Covering Flint’s 2026 Local Elections

FLINT, Michigan — Flintside is expanding its coverage of Flint’s 2026 mayoral and city council races, thanks to a grant from Election SOS, a joint initiative of Indiegraf and Hearken supporting local newsrooms’ election coverage this fall. This coverage will run for the rest of the year, carrying readers with us through election season and slightly beyond.

On November 3, Flint will decide who leads the city for the next four years between incumbent Sheldon Neeley and challenger Tonya Burns, and all nine city council seats, six of which have entirely new candidates. Genesee County as a whole will decide who is the 4th division judge of the 67th District Court in addition to Michigan’s Senate and governor’s race.

This series is led by Flintside managing editor Xzavier Simon, a native of the Beecher community who has written for Flintside since 2019, handles the On The Ground series, and became managing editor in late 2025. 

RELATED: Real Stories, Real People: Flintside relaunches its ‘On the Ground’ series

Alongside him is contributor Jalen Garrison, a member of Flint’s north side community. Their growing body of civic reporting includes the Flint City Council Monthly Wrap Up! series and recent coverage of the August primary election. 

Truthfully, this kind of political coverage is new to Flintside. Our roots run through neighborhood stories, arts & culture, small businesses and entrepreneurship, and the people building this city from the ground up and redefining its narrative. 

But the community views us as a trusted source and asked us, plainly and directly, to step up and educate the people. That request is what’s driving this work, and we intend to meet it with everything we have.

RELATED: Conversations With Flint: Reflections From Flintside’s On The Ground Listening Session

So, here’s what we’re intending to do. We’re planning voter guides that break down who’s running, what’s on the ballot, and the key dates that matter before Election Day. 

We intend to track city tax dollars, including a close look at the three millage proposals on this November’s ballot: emergency medical services, arts education & cultural enrichment, and Mass Transportation Authority. 

We’re aiming to revisit the Flint Water Crisis, examining where recovery stands currently and where candidates land on what comes next. 

We plan to include LGBTQ+ community members who serve in local office. We also plan to reach out to key people within the Latinx, Arab, and international communities. 

We also intend to tackle misinformation head-on, exploring how false narratives take shape, helping residents separate fact from rumor, and talking to local officials and specialists about what the community can do.

RELATED: Flint’s liability to multiple water suppliers has residents confused and angry

Every piece in this series will run through a fact checking and anti-polarization checklist before it publishes. That’s not a small thing to us. This checklist helps us maintain credibility and allows our team to report truthfully with as little bias as possible. 

You all asked us to show up, and over the next few months, we’ll prove it.

Have a question about this election you want answered, or a tip on something we should be looking into?

Email the editor at editor@flintside.com.