Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield and Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. have secured enough votes to move on in the mayoral primary race, according to the Associated Press.

Unofficial election night totals show Sheffield led the field of nine candidates with 100% of votes counted. Sheffield secured 52% of the vote, with Kinloch at 17%.

The City Council president earned 43,572 votes and the Triumph Church pastor secured 14,893 votes among the field of nine candidates. 

Former council president Saunteel Jenkins trailed close behind with 16%. Former Police Chief James Craig and attorney Todd Perkins both sat around 5%, Council Member Fred Durhal III saw 3%. Businessmen John Barlow and Joel Haashiim and DaNetta Simpson had less than 1% of the vote each.

Sheffield and Kinloch will spend the next three months competing for supporters, donors and political allies in preparation of a general election matchup in November. Voters also selected candidates for five City Council seats.

“Tonight is bigger than a win at the ballot box,” Sheffield said at a watch party at the downtown Cambria Hotel. “It’s a turning point, because tonight Detroit chose experience. Detroit chose integrity, and Detroit chose people centered leadership.” 

Sheffield said the victory belongs to every neighborhood that has felt left behind, every senior who stayed in the city through hard times and young people who wonder if there’s a future for them in Detroit. 

The departure of Mayor Mike Duggan, who eschewed a fourth term to instead run for governor, leaves the mayor’s office up for grabs for the first time since 2013. Nine candidates vying to replace Duggan credit him with putting Detroit on solid footing after it endured bankruptcy and national embarrassment, but pledged to put more focus on neighborhood revitalization. They also acknowledge the next mayor will face difficult challenges in the face of diminished federal funding, pervasive poverty and a shortage of affordable housing.

“Detroit has changed tremendously, but there’s still a lot more work to do,” Sheffield said earlier in the day. “I’m excited to be on that ballot, because I know I bring the leadership that is needed: Quality, qualified, people-centered leadership.” 

Sheffield’s mayoral campaign dominated in fundraising and she consistently led the field in polling throughout the year. Kinloch, a political newcomer and senior pastor leading Triumph Church, and Jenkins, a former City Council member, entered the final stretch of the race in a near-dead heat for second place. 

“We’re building a movement because Detroit isn’t just choosing a mayor, we’re choosing a direction,” Kinloch said during his watch party at the Roostertail. “When I launched this campaign, I told the truth — a truth that resonated with you, but one that rankled the seats of power.” 

Jenkins said she’s encountered residents who don’t think voting matters because they’re dissatisfied with city leadership. While Kinloch is running an outsider campaign focused on the limits of Detroit’s revitalization, Jenkins said the city needs a mayor who knows how government works. The campaigns raised nearly the same amount, though Jenkins spent $116,000 more.

“I certainly understand the frustration, but the answer isn’t always to throw out the baby with the bath water; it’s making sure that you’re choosing the right elected officials,” Jenkins said on Tuesday. “We need to focus on experience and qualifications and who can actually get the job done, because this will be a difficult job even under the best circumstances.” 

Sheffield said Detroit’s work is far from finished, especially after the shooting deaths of several young children this summer. 

“I am reminded of the work every time I visit our neighborhoods where I see abandoned homes sitting next to families trying to create stability,” Sheffield said. “I’m reminded of the work ahead when I speak with our seniors and our families who are worried if rising rents will displace them, or whether or not they can find affordable housing.” 

Sheffield said the future she’s building includes improved public transit, expanded economic growth, new commercial corridors, grocery stores and businesses and good paying jobs.

“This is our moment, Detroit, to reimagine what’s possible and to reclaim the future that we all deserve,” Sheffield said. 

Turnout troubles

Most of the votes were expected to come in before Tuesday. The Detroit Election Department reported 49,472 absentee ballots were returned by Monday night, plus 2,367 ballots cast in-person at early voting centers. Election Administrator Daniel Baxter said the race would be decided by absentee voters. 

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey predicted turnout will likely end up between 13% and 18% of all registered voters. Turnout in the previous 2021 municipal primary election was 14%. City Council member and mayoral candidate Fred Durhal III said the trend is “abysmal.” Based on the unofficial tallies, turnout on Tuesday was just under 17%.

“Not even a quarter of the electorate are participating,” Durhal said. “We may call it normal, but to me, there’s nothing normal about having a small percentage of the electorate decide who is going to lead the largest city in our state. You look at elections that have had turnout, there are issues on the ballot.”

The nine candidates spent a combined $2 million on the primary. Candidates used every tool at their disposal to reach voters. On Monday, attorney Todd Perkins had a plane in the air over the Detroit River with a banner telling people to vote for him.

Kinloch largely avoided candidate forums that were happening at a near-daily pace by July, preferring to reach voters through smaller meetings and an army of door knockers mobilized by the United Auto Workers Union. Kinloch was also endorsed by dozens of pastors who rallied voters at a Sunday event featuring gospel music artists at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastors like Rev. Isaiah Pettway of Beth Eden Baptist Church said the election is a “God thing” and Kinloch is a prophet called to government service. They also reflected on the virtue of second chances in reference to a Fox 2 report resurfacing Kinloch’s 1993 domestic violence conviction weeks before the election.

“We all did things when we were young,” said Rev. Torian Bridges. “What about what he’s done since?” 

Central Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Robert Bolden asked the crowd to vote for Kinloch and show their support “in a tangible way” by donating. Bolden apparently took his own advice, donating $6,550 to Kinloch’s campaign. Attendees were given cards soliciting funds. 

Rev. Robert Smith Jr., senior pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church, was introduced as a mentor who baptized Kinloch and set him on a righteous path. He said Kinloch, like Christ, knows when to be a lamb and when to be a lion. But Kinloch compared himself to the cartoon sailor Popeye, who would endure abuse up to a point where it could no longer be accepted.

Kinloch said he relates to Popeye’s catch phrase: “I’ve taken all I can stand and I can’t stand no more.”

“I can’t stand to see a city where you’ve got a majority of the people that have just survived instead of thrived,” Kinloch said. “I can’t stand it no more that you’ve got people who are sitting there talking about, ‘we built a billion dollars of affordable housing.’ Where did you build a billion dollars of affordable housing … I am not suggesting, my friends, that certain things have not been done and we have not done a good job in certain areas, but what I am suggesting is that good is not good enough.” 

Candidates universally agree that Detroit’s “comeback” is an ongoing process. Kinloch says residents lost faith in institutional politicians who deliver rhetoric but no results. Opponents say it’s one thing to identify a problem, but it takes someone with government experience to do something about it.

“Experience that has proven to change the lives of Detroit is what’s most important, and I’m able to bring that,” Sheffield said. “It’s one thing to talk about what you’re going to do and talk about the problems, but I’ve been here for 12 years. Everything is not perfect, and while we have not finished, I think people actually see that I’ve done a tremendous amount of work over the 12 years, and we can build upon that work now serving as mayor.” 

Sheffield brought her 8-year-old cousin and 88-year-old grandmother to her polling location at the Horatio Williams Foundation. Sheffield said her grandmother paved the way for her, and Sheffield wanted young Rylan Owens to see what women can achieve.

“I brought (my cousin) today because our young people are at the front of this campaign, because we’re fighting for that generation,” Sheffield said. “We want to create a city that we also can retain our young people here in Detroit. I’m excited to elevate all of the issues that matter to Detroiters, public safety, housing, good paying jobs, and, of course, our neighborhoods … We are also on the brink of history, of having the first woman mayor, and I think we should not lose sight of that.” 

Detroiters at the polls 

Jasmine Reed, a resident of Martin Park neighborhood, said Sheffield’s 12 years on the City Council set her apart from Kinloch. Reed described the pastor as passionate about affairs in Detroit, but ultimately unqualified to lead. Reed said Jenkins has the necessary experience to be mayor, but she also abandoned her council seat to take another job. 

“(Sheffield) has been there supporting Duggan throughout the years, and I feel like the progress that the city has had would not have happened without her support,” Reed said.

Reed attends Fellowship Chapel, a “politically conscious” church where the congregation has been primed to vote. Sheffield visited the church earlier this year. While elected officials lament low turnout, Reed said you wouldn’t see that in the pews of Fellowship Chapel. 

“I don’t know anybody who’s not voting, actually,” Reed said.

Laura Dewberry was considering voting for Sheffield but shifted to Jenkins in the last few days of the election. Dewberry, a community health worker, said Sheffield relates to younger Black residents and is active in local affairs. She figured Sheffield would advance from the primary, and Dewberry wanted Jenkins to face her in November. 

“I definitely would prefer to have somebody more grassroots to Detroit,” Dewberry said. “I liked Duggan, and I liked all the advancements he made in the city, but I think he had a lot of disconnect with native Detroiters. Even though he brought a lot of development, a lot of that development did not benefit Detroiters.” 

Dewberry’s husband, Jeremy Vidito, said Jenkins is the stronger candidate because she has more experience managing organizations and leading initiatives. Federal tax cuts will likely cause Michigan to send Detroit less funding, Vidito said, imperiling local social programs. 

“Can you manage the managers who have to implement large initiatives? That’s something I worry about,” Vidito said. “I think Duggan was a really good manager. I had a lot of other issues with him, but the city of Detroit won’t continue to improve if we don’t build really good systems to be responsive to the community.” 

Lafayette Park resident Twana Chandler voted for Durhal, based on his experience in the Michigan Legislature. She said it’s important for the next mayor to know how the state government operates, especially as the Department of Transportation pursues a controversial reconfiguration of I-375 that Chandler is deeply skeptical of. 

“I would like to see more work in the neighborhoods,” Chandler said. “I would like to see our car insurance be lowered. More attention to the issues that we have, like crime.” 

Indian Village resident Tim Mahoney wants the next mayor to continue Duggan’s work, and said Jenkins is most qualified to follow in his footsteps. Mahoney said he wants the next mayor to focus on improving the school system — that will build strong families, he said. 

Hartford Smith lived next door to Perkins’ family in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood and watched him grow up into a community-oriented leader. Smith values his analytical skills, business insight and commitment to social justice. 

“He’s not afraid of anybody,” Smith said. “He’s not an aggressive guy either. I never saw him get into a fight, but I never saw anybody want to mess with him … He’s got an even temperament, and the mayor of this city has to have that. He’s going to have to be prepared to deal with a federal government that is not favorable to Detroit.” 

Smith said Perkins had a slim chance to advance from the primary since other candidates raised more money but also felt that Perkins was short-changed by Detroit media organizations. 

“Detroit media has been very much involved in orchestrating who gets heard,” Smith said. “He does not get very much voluntary coverage.” 

Rhonda Archer declined to say who she’s supporting for mayor but said she doesn’t feel like the city is moving in the right direction. She pointed to gun violence this summer that killed several children. Democracy isn’t strong enough in Detroit, she said. 

“Voting is like a job, it’s like going to work,” Archer said.