Novi Mayor seat contested, 9 candidates file for council race, incumbent to drop out

Susan Bromley for Hometownlife.com

The political race in Novi took shape Tuesday as the candidate filing deadline passed, but will change again as an incumbent plans to back out.

Longtime Novi Mayor Bob Gatt will face a challenge from newcomer Ajay Raman, and nine candidates filed for three city council seats up for election this fall.

However, Andrew Mutch, who has held one of those seats for 16 years, has already announced his intention to drop out of the race.

Mutch, who will complete his fourth term this fall, said by email that by the end of the week he will withdraw his name from the list of candidates. Friday afternoon is the deadline for candidates to withdraw their name from the race.

"I thought a long time about whether to run or not," he said. "I've been on city council for 16 years, which is 1/3 of my life, which kind of put it in perspective for me. I was ready to step back and let some new people an opportunity to contribute."

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