Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett. Few candidates who stepped up to run for mayor in 2025 cleared an early hurdle to qualify for the Aug. 5 primary ballot as a key milestone approaches.

It remains unclear exactly how many choices Detroiters will have for mayor and other races until after 4 p.m. on April 22. That’s the deadline for candidates to submit a sufficient number of nominating petitions signed by Detroit voters.

Mayoral candidates need 500 valid signatures from Detroit residents over the age 18. The Detroit Election Department officially certified the signatures of three mayoral candidates as of April 17: City Council President Mary Sheffield, plus businessmen Joel Haashiim and Jonathan Barlow.

Former nonprofit CEO and City Council President Saunteel Jenkins and two-time mayoral candidate DaNetta Simpson submitted their signatures this week. Election officials said it’s not uncommon for candidates to wait until the last moment.

“Getting signatures is your first chance to interact with voters and say ‘I’d like to be your mayor,” Jenkins said. “If you can’t talk to 500 voters and get them to say ‘yes, I’ll take a chance on you,’ maybe it’s not the right move.”

Council Member Fred Durhal III said he plans to submit his signatures the day of the deadline. The department has 10 days to validate signatures, so the official ballot may not be set until early May. Thirty-two possible mayoral candidates requested nominating petitions.

Jenkins marched with supporters into the Department of Elections Headquarters in New Center on Wednesday. She was flanked by Mariners Inn CEO David Sampson and QuanTez Pressley, pastor of Third New Hope Baptist Church and a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. Pressley led the group in prayer and carried a box labeled “petitions for the next mayor of Detroit.”

Sampson described Jenkins as a passionate “servant leader” who beat breast cancer to fulfill a purpose. She’s also just “a good freaking person,” said Sampson, who’s known Jenkins for two decades.

Jenkins’s campaign casts her as the “most qualified” choice, a title other candidates are jockeying for. She’s a social worker with nonprofit, business and government experience. Surrogates like Greg Bowens are quick to point out she’s the only candidate to win two citywide elections as a City Council member.

“I believe that I am the best candidate for them because I’ve worked with business, I’ve worked with nonprofits, I’ve worked with philanthropy,” Jenkins said. “I know how to build coalitions.”

Jenkins reflected on her past campaigns for City Council, saying she delivered signatures with the same feeling of excitement and stepping into the unknown. She was first elected in 2009, before council districts were created, and finished third in the citywide race among 18 candidates. Jenkins was re-elected in 2013 and filled one of two at-large seats.

Jenkins resigned from the council in 2014, serving 10 months of her second term, to become CEO of The Heat and Warmth Fund. She said collecting signatures was a good way to meet Detroiters.

Each campaign has its own strategy for collecting signatures. District 5 City Council hopeful Whitney Clarke canvassed shoppers outside the Meijer on Jefferson. Jenkins said she visited Eastern Market, community events and churches.

“We collected all of our signatures, we personally validated all of our signatures, and I still have extra petitions in my hand because I have way more than they would let me turn in,” Jenkins said. “I feel confident that we’re prepared and my name will appear on the ballot.”

Barlow collected more than 1,000 signatures and submitted four batches spread across several weeks. He said the intent was to test how many signatures were rejected in each round. The Election Department certified this week that he qualified for the August primary.

Delivering signatures is also an opportunity to generate media coverage and social media content. Sheffield and Jenkins invited reporters to cover their drop offs as news events and uploaded campaign videos to their Instagram pages.

Here’s a look at who else has been certified by the Elections Department, as of April 17.

City Council at-large: Incumbent Coleman Young II and Detroit Fire Chief James Harris. Incumbent Mary Waters filed signatures but isn’t certified yet.

City Council District 1: Incumbent James Tate Jr.

City Council District 2: Incumbent Angela Whitfield-Calloway, Roy McCalister Jr. and Harriet Scott.

City Council District 3: Incumbent Scott Benson and Cranstana Anderson.

City Council District 4: No candidates were certified as of April 17.

City Council District 5: Renata Miller is the only candidate to be certified, but Whitney Clarke, Bonzetta Ferrell, Kevin Jones and Michal Ri’chard filed their petitions.

City Council District 6: No candidates were certified as of April 17. Incumbent Gabriela Santaigo-Romero filed petitions but isn’t certified yet.

City Council District 7: Regina Willis-Ross is the only candidate to be certified but Dustin Campbell filed petitions and is awaiting certification.

Upcoming candidates forums  

Detroit voters can hear more directly from the candidates soon. Mayoral candidate forums are starting to fill the calendar.

The AFL-CIO and SEIU are holding a mayoral candidate forum at 6 p.m. April 29 at the IBEW Local 58 headquarters, 1358 Abbot Street.

The No BS News Hour is hosting a May 22 candidate forum at the Wayne County Community College District Northwest Campus, 8200 W. Outer Drive.

BridgeDetroit is partnering with the Detroit Parks Coalition to hold a mayoral candidate forum July 24 at Palmer Park. We’ll have more details to report soon.

Transportation Riders United is coordinating a mayoral forum focused on public transit issues sometime in June. More details coming soon.

---

What candidates are saying 

Detroit Future City offered the next mayor recommendations for building the middle class.

A new policy brief argues a need for investing in home repair, energy efficiency, flood protection and homebuyer assistance programs, strengthening enforcement of retinal ordinances, attracting business, increasing the number of Detroiters with bachelor’s degrees and creating career paths for those who lack degrees.

The report recommends finding new revenue sources, not necessarily from “already heavily taxed people,” to address the loss of pandemic funding and looming debt obligations.

“This will mean centering strategies that focus on increasing the incomes and wealth of Detroiters to grow the middle class from within and attracting new middle class residents,” it states.

Former Police Chief James Craig told Axios he would launch an “independent forensic audit of the financial health of the city” if elected mayor. He also promoted his executive experience and relationship with President Donald Trump.

Durhal touted his experience in the state Legislature in an interview with The Detroit News. He highlighted work on the City Council to regulate scrap yards and create tax breaks for affordable housing projects.

Durhal also teased a “comprehensive tax relief plan” to eliminate the entire 19.5-mill operating tax while raising taxes on land speculators. I interviewed Durhal about taxes and his economic development strategy on Detroit Next.

Durhal’s Instagram posted a testimonial from Conrad Green, a supporter who said Durhal helped demolish a building where his granddaughter was dumped after being murdered. Green called Durhal a genuine and heartfelt leader.

Jenkins joined Authentically Detroit for a conversation about her vision for the city. She discusses recent experiences with the city’s bus system, saying she wants to improve the ability to track buses in real time and increase wages for drivers.

Jenkins said she wants experts to lead city departments and how personal hardships prepared her to lead Detroit. She voiced support for adding neighborhood police officers and has an open mind on police surveillance tools, so long as they are proven to work.

Jenkins rode city buses with transit activist Michael Cunningham II, who organizes ride-alongs with elected officials and candidates to raise awareness on transit issues.

Attorney Todd Perkins is scheduling home visits and held a virtual town hall on Wednesday. 

Sheffield’s campaign scored an endorsement from UNITE HERE! Local 24, a hospitality workers union headquartered in the City Council district she represents.

A press release lists endorsements from Laborers’ Local 1191, Detroit Vs Everybody founder Tommey Walker, The Lip Bar founder Melissa Butler,  Strategic Staffing Solutions CEO Cindy Pasky, former Judge Greg Mathis and civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

The Rivertown Detroit Association has also been promoting Sheffield for mayor in its email newsletters. Sheffield’s campaign instagram featured a testimonial from Lance Woods, founder of We Run 313.

Sheffield’s campaign scheduled a voter canvassing event on Friday. Her campaign is selling tickets for an April 21 event for women supporters at The Cambria Hotel and a May 6 event with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Linda Mathis and businesswoman Daralene Nero are headlining The “100 Women for Mary Sheffield” event, with a long list of named guests.