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Tuesday night, voters chose one incumbent and six newcomers to help lead the school district. It's hard to believe a candidate could win an election by getting a measly 4 percent of the vote, but when you've got 63 candidates and an overwhelmed electorate, a little goes a long way.
"That was overwhelming, that was the worst part of the ballot - there was too many names," said voter Darlene Richardson.
With 63 names to choose from, Detroiters had plenty of choices for the new Detroit public schools community district board . The seven board members they selected were a mix of old and new faces, some backed by union and political forces, others with a business orientation.
FOX 2 and its news partners tried to help educate voters by thoroughly vetting the candidates and made our findings available.
► Database: What we learned about the 63 candidates for Detroit school board
The top vote-getter was Angelique Peterson-Mayberry, the director of community relations for UAW-Ford.
Second place went to Georgia Lemmons, the wife of long-time DPS board member LaMar Lemmons - but more on him in a minute.
In third was Iris Taylor, the retired CEO of Detroit Receiving Hospital.
Finishing fourth was Misha Stallworth, a 28-year-old member of a long-time Detroit political family who works for the Detroit area agency on aging.
Sonya Mays, a former investment banker who worked on Detroit's bankruptcy, came in fifth.
Former DPS principal Deborah Hunter-Harvill, who is now an education consultant, finished sixth.
And LaMar Lemmons, who claims the disputed presidency of the old DPS board, came in seventh. He is the only member of the old board to win a seat on the new board, which was created as part of the state's $617 million bailout of the Detroit public schools.
Voters at Seven Mile and John R weren't exactly confident about who they were choosing, but they recognized that the stakes are high.
"I hope we get the best," said resident Bill Jones.
NOTE: The candidate database is a collaboration among reporters Jennifer Dixon, Kristi Tanner, John Wisely and Ann Zaniewski of the Detroit Free Press; M.L. Elrick and Patricia Montemurri of Fox 2 Detroit; Chastity Pratt Dawsey of Bridge Magazine and Sascha Raiyn of WDET Detroit Public Radio.
Free Press web producer Jamie Smith used information compiled by the reporters to create the online database that accompanies this story.
Each candidate was given six weeks to respond to a questionnaire and asked to submit a résumé and a current photograph. Not all candidates responded to those requests. Some refused to be interviewed.