"Mayor Karen Weaver sailed into office two years ago promising to clean Flint’s lead-tainted water and to restore trust in government..."

"But as her celebrity grew, so too did a revolt within her own City Hall. She now faces City Council members accusing her of corruption, a court battle over Flint’s long-term water source and, on Tuesday, a recall election that could snuff out her four-year term at the halfway point. Ms. Weaver, who is black and the first woman to hold her post, blames racism, sexism and petty politics for the recall.... But Ms. Weaver’s opponents — 17 names will appear on the ballot along with hers — dismiss her as a political amateur who has run Flint like a fief, failed to engage with the City Council and further eroded the public’s already battered faith in government. The candidate who receives the most votes on Tuesday will serve out the remainder of the term. 'The mayor is trying to turn this into a racial campaign, and it has nothing to do with me being white and her being an African-American female,' said Scott Kincaid, a longtime city councilman and labor-union employee who is widely considered the main challenger in the recall. 'It has to do with her inability to govern the City of Flint.'"

From "Flint Mayor, Ushered in to Fix Water Crisis, Now Faces Recall" (NYT).

Seems like playing the race-and-sex card and being the incumbent is enough to win when all you need to do is get the most votes out of a field of 18 candidates.