Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield finally announced her 2025 mayoral campaign to an enraptured audience of influential leaders and community voices.
Sheffield is running for mayor as a uniter and fighter, promising to continue economic growth while ensuring development brings inclusive benefits to residents.
She positioned herself as inheritor to the legacy of Mayor Mike Duggan’s stewardship of Detroit since 2014 but also as an active participant in securing the accomplishments of the last decade.
IBEW Local 58 hosted Sheffield and several hundred attendees who listened to surrogates hype her candidacy for more than an hour before she joined them on stage. Her message focused on bridging community and business interests.
“While serving on the council for the last 11 years, we have truly built a legacy of working together,” Sheffield said.
“This next chapter in Detroit is about building on the growth and the progress that we’ve all worked so hard for. It’s about ensuring that the city’s prosperity reaches more residents, more businesses and more neighborhoods.”
Supporters speaking on Sheffield’s behalf included faith and political leaders, business executives, block club organizers and family members like her 88-year-old grandmother Mary Coty, who shared an anecdote about Sheffield’s childhood determination to ride a bike without training wheels.
“I knew that Mary would face the challenges of life head on, and in so doing, this ability would become part of her character and would guide her throughout the rest of her life,” Coty said.
Sheffield is the first candidate to formally commit to running for mayor, though four others formed candidate committees and more still are said to be considering it.
Community activist and minister Teferi Brent warned other candidates to “sit down” and stay out of the race.
“She is the candidate, ain’t no other candidate,” Brent said. “If you show up, get in the race and try to split the vote, we’re gonna deal with you. We’re gonna do it the old school Coleman Young way.”
The energy in the room was palpable. Sheffield appeared confident and poised, despite a minor technical issue with her teleprompter.
It was an intergenerational crowd with emerging young leaders next to elders.
Social media personalities like Zsa Zsa Hubbard and Tay Crispy were also there to broadcast the announcement. Sheffield held an after party at The Annex, a downtown nightclub.
But I also thought of those Detroiters who weren’t in the room, and what it would take to get them engaged in this conversation about the city’s future. Turnout in the 2021 mayoral election was only 14%.
I asked Sheffield how she will get those people interested in the election.
“Well, they’re here, right? So they are interested,” Sheffield said. “A lot of these people have watched me from the very beginning. They’re excited about what I’ve stood for, what I’ve done already, and what I will continue to do. We’ve got to keep the excitement and the momentum moving forward over the next nine months.”
Detroit’s first woman mayor?
At 37 years old, Sheffield represents a younger generation of leaders and an opportunity to elect the city’s first woman mayor.
Sheffield’s gender was referenced multiple times by supporters. Cindy Pasky, founder and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions, said it’s time for Detroit to elect “the right woman.”
Pastor Aramis Hines Sr. likened Sheffield to the biblical figure Deborah, emphasizing her strong leadership. Hines said Sheffield is “called by God” to be the next mayor.
“She can become one that will stand in a patriarchal society and declare that it’s not just a man that can lead, but a woman can lead as well,” Hines said.
Others said Sheffield’s candidacy for mayor is a lifetime in the making. Edythe Ford, a nonprofit organizer and reparations task force member, recalled telling Sheffield she should run 12 years ago.
Sheffield recounted how former Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon reached out when she was trying to decide how to start her career.
The late Napoleon, who ran against Duggan in 2013, set her up in the Wayne County Jail as a disciplinary hearing officer to Sheffield’s surprise and initial discomfort.
“There I was just thinking I was going to be Benny’s right hand, and now suddenly here I am at the end of a long corridor in a tiny office at the Wayne County Jail,” Sheffield said.
“I thought to myself ‘I’m going to get Benny for this.’ I ended up staying for three years and it turned out to be the most educational experiences of my life.”
Sheffield said she once questioned why Napoleon put her there, but it was now clear the formative job prepared her to run for mayor.
“He wanted to teach me that no matter how far you go, no matter how high you climb, it is always about serving people,” Sheffield said. “I was being shaped and molded into a servant leader.”
How would Sheffield lead?
Sheffield outlined her vision for growing the city’s population, addressing root causes of violence, reducing the burden of property taxes and creating new government bodies focused on violence prevention and youth engagement.
Reporters asked how she would address community concerns about tax breaks for large development projects that have faced some push back from residents.
Sheffield said she’s focused on making sure projects create jobs for residents and a return on the investment of public dollars.
“A lot of those projects I have supported, and I’m proud that I have, because I’ve been able to get additional benefits added within those projects,” Sheffield said.
I asked about her stance on providing tax breaks sought by General Motors and billionaire Dan Gilbert to redevelop the Renaissance Center. Sheffield said she won’t speak on the proposal until it’s formally brought to the City Council but sees potential in the concept.
“I do think there has been a unique opportunity presented to save iconic landmarks in our city, creating jobs, economic growth, and providing affordable housing,” she said. “The details I would like to see more of.”
Sheffield thanked Duggan for being a partner to her and guiding the city through an era of bankruptcy and emergency management.
“We balanced budgets and improved our bond ratings,” Sheffield said. “We improved city services and ended mass water shut offs. We beautified Detroit by investing in parks and eliminating blight, and together, we made this city safer by reducing crime to historic lows.”
Sheffield said she’s looking forward to “creating my own voice.”
“We’ve not always agreed on everything, and I think that is what you’ll begin to see as I move forward, some of the things that I’m more passionate about that (Duggan) may not have been.”
Television star and former 36th District Court Judge Greg Mathis vouched for Sheffield’s work to rebuild neighborhoods and the downtown. He said Sheffield has been an advocate for youth and led the creation of Detroit’s reparations task force to repair harms against Black residents.
“I know her and I trust her,” Mathis said. “Those are the two things you want of your elected officials, because they’re lying a minute. You want one that you know and that you trust.”
What are Detroiters saying?
Attendees told me that Sheffield puts boots on the ground in communities to understand residents’ needs and follows through on finding solutions.
Felisha Tate, president of the Sheridan Block Club, said Sheffield’s advocacy was key to cleaning up overgrown alleys and developing a strong relationship with residents to fill unoccupied homes and keep residents informed.
Georgia Cole, president of LaSalle Beautiful Block Club, said she met Sheffield when she was knocking on doors to learn what seniors needed. Cole said Sheffield is a “world shaker” who will bring Detroit into the future.
“She’s talking to all generations,” Cole said. “Her motto blew me out of the water: ‘Together We Can. Together We Will.’”
In attendance was Jazmine Good, 31, a westside resident who met Sheffield at a networking event.
Good later volunteered at an expungement fair Sheffield hosted and won a $20,000 scholarship at one of Sheffield’s Occupy the Corner events funded by Detroit rapper Skilla Baby.
Good said she wants the next mayor to focus on housing affordability, neighborhood safety and mental health resources.
Others attended to hear Sheffield’s message as the mayoral campaign begins. Stephen Grady Muhammad, a former chief of staff for then-Council President Brenda Jones, said he’s in “listening mode” as candidates come forward.
Muhammad said he wants to hear candidates promote economic development and fiscal responsibility while improving neighborhoods.
“Legacy Detroiters remember when the city was very beautiful and it felt like anyone could live here,” he said.
Transit advocate Michael Cunningham II is also waiting to hear more from other candidates but said Sheffield stands apart thanks to her record on the City Council.
“No one can say they have 11 years of experience and still be young,” Cunningham said. “She’s not a sellout. She’s no Kwame (Kilpatrick).”
