Detroit mayoral candidates are warming up for a final sprint to reach voters in the last weeks before absentee ballots are mailed to citizens for the Aug. 5 primary.
Voter outreach efforts are intensifying, endorsements are stacking up and ads are being cut for prime time and phone screens. Nine candidates are competing to lead Detroit after a decade of Mayor Mike Duggan’s tenure. The winner will inherit a generally more prosperous city but also face challenges to maintain fiscal stability, expand growth into the neighborhoods and address long-running issues related to safety, education, housing and more.
The upcoming primary will narrow the race to two contenders who will face off in the November general election. Polling positions Council President Mary Sheffield as a clear front-runner, trailed by Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins and former Police Chief James Craig.
Nothing is settled until votes are counted. Council Member Fred Durhal III, Attorney Todd Perkins, businessmen Jonathan Barlow and Joel Haashiim and retired cosmetologist DaNetta Simpson are also seeking the mayor’s office.
Kinloch has tried to differentiate himself from rivals by promoting his political outsider status as a humble community leader called to government service. Kinloch made the case at a weekend rally with United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, which ended with volunteers fanning across the city to knock on doors.
“I’m not saying that there are people who have not done good, but I am saying it ain’t good enough,” Kinloch said on stage at the UAW Solidarity House. “Since you ain’t gon’ do it, get out of the seat. I’m getting ready to get in the seat and get it done.”
Jenkins said experience matters, arguing she is the most qualified and prepared candidate to do the job on day one. Jenkins last week released internal polling to reporters showing she’s in a tight competition for second place, making a case for donors to fuel her outreach to undecided voters.
“Our next mayor is going to face some very serious challenges,” Jenkins said in a June call with reporters. “We need someone who is experienced, who understands the government, who understands Detroit and our community, who has been here on the ground in Detroit.”
Craig argues his time as Detroit’s second-longest serving chief means he’s also demonstrated executive experience. As the only Republican running in the nonpartisan race, Craig says he has a good relationship with President Donald Trump that will benefit Detroit. Craig praised Trump’s decision to unilaterally deploy troops to crush protests in Los Angeles.
“I have a cordial relationship with the current president; I’m absolutely convinced that as mayor, I’ll be able to leverage that relationship,” Craig said. “Having that relationship is critical. But I’m a Detroiter first. This is a nonpartisan race. I was a Republican when I was your chief and deputy mayor. I don’t play politics, I play solutions.”
Durhal, a former state lawmaker, has likewise promoted his experience in Lansing. Durhal argues he has essential relationships with state lawmakers and a unique understanding of how the Michigan Legislature can be influenced to create tax reforms and fund programs like the Community Violence Intervention initiative.
“No doubt we are the most experienced candidate in this race,” Durhal said in a May interview. “No one else has served on the state level as well as the city level … It’s easy to identify the problem, but can you provide the solution?”
Meanwhile Sheffield’s campaign announced Thursday it raised $1 million, saying they set a fundraising record for women mayoral candidates in Michigan. The campaign said 64% of donations came from around 1,100 Detroit residents, while 27% came from the tri-county area and 93% of all donations were given by Michigan residents.
“Surpassing $1 million at this stage of the campaign is so humbling, and more than a financial milestone — it’s a signal that Detroiters believe in what we’re building together,” Sheffield said in a statement. “As the only candidate to reach this level of support, I carry the hopes of our communities with me — and together, we are going to move Detroit forward.”
The next deadline for candidates to report their fundraising activities is July 25.
This is the first mayoral race where Detroiters can take advantage of early voting 40 days prior to an election. Absentee ballots will be mailed to Detroit primary voters who requested them starting June 26. Early voting has also pushed up the timeline for candidates to build name recognition and organize get out the vote operations.
Another debate is scheduled June 16 hosted by WDIV-TV Channel 4 and AARP Michigan. It will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. from Wayne State University. Outlier Media is hosting a debate on June 21 at Eastside Community Network.
Perkins was not invited to debates organized by the Detroit Regional Chamber and WDIV-TV. He argued his exclusion will short-change Detroiters who deserve to hear from all candidates. Perkins said he’s been meeting with residents for months, who tell him the city’s growth over the last decade hasn’t reached everyone.
“What I see is people who feel left out, who feel like their voice doesn’t matter, and feel like no one’s embraced their community with this change,” Perkins said in a May interview. “You hear stories about the fabulous things that have been done, which you can’t deny, but has it touched those individuals?”
Kinloch has been largely absent from candidate forums hosted by a variety of community organizations during the last two months. He attended a mayoral debate hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber at the Mackinac Policy Conference but skipped smaller events focused on transit and other issues.
Kinloch said his campaign is reaching Detroiters just fine on its own.
“Can I spend three hours talking to 100 people that have been in the same rooms at multiple (forums) or do I use that time to take 150 people out and knock on 6,000 doors?” Kinloch said in a May interview. “To have forums every day keeps the candidates from being able to reach the people that we’re going to need in just a short while.”
Kinloch’s campaign says they’re preparing to blanket the city with ads while building a large ground operation fueled by his relationships with residents through his ministry. Fain said the UAW is “putting all our resources” behind helping Kinloch reach voters.
“It’s a rigged system we live in and that’s what the American public is so fed up with,” Fain said in an interview after the June rally. “This is ground zero right here in Detroit, where people have to stand together and realize they do have power in this fight. If they want to get better for themselves, they’ve got to stand together and get behind a candidate who is going to represent that interest.”
Sheffield is also a preacher, and her father Horace Sheffield III leads New Destiny Christian Fellowship. She scored endorsements from 30 local clergy members like Bishop Marvin Winans, Rev. Nicholas Hood and Pastor Barry Randolph.
National political groups have also backed Sheffield, including the Fannie Lou Hammer PAC and EMILY’s list, which supports Democratic pro-choice women.
Sheffield’s Campaign Manager Chris Scott expects they will have the most labor endorsements of any candidate. So far, Sheffield has been endorsed by the Service Employees International Union of Michigan, UNITE HERE! Local 1191, Laborers’ Local Union 1191 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.
Tom Lutz, executive secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, said Sheffield is a “proven leader” who will fight for policies that ensure fair wages, safe job sites and retirement security.
Kinloch said he’s been working to meet the needs of Detroiters through his leadership of Triumph Church, which distributes groceries to congregants and gave out laptops to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got too many leaders that get too close to the proximity of power, and they forget why they’ve been put into power in the first place,” Kinloch said at the UAW rally. ”I have not stood in the pulpit at Triumph Church for 27 years and used it as a pedestal to promote myself. I used it as a platform to lift an entire community of people.”
Sheffield said faith-based organizations have a role in her administration, outlining a proposal to help church development projects secure funding and navigate city bureaucracy.
“That’s what people are excited about, to have someone who can actually balance the two together, who can advocate for big business and ensure that we have large entities, high growth jobs coming to Detroit, but also can advocate for the least to be in our community,” Sheffield said in May. “I have a track record of doing both.”
Scott, who worked on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris, said Sheffield is focused on making residents feel like they have a place in Detroit as the city grows. Scott said voters generally feel that the city is moving in the right direction, but want to see the benefits in their neighborhoods instead of downtown.
The campaign cut its first ad of the primary race this month and is preparing for a “big blitz” of ads that will be going up on television in the coming weeks.
“You have to meet voters where they’re at, and sometimes that’s at forums, sometimes that’s at their door,” Scott said in a June interview. “We know this forum scene season is coming to a close soon, but it’s important to us to make sure that we’re having that balance, both in a forum setting, where hundreds of people are coming after work to hear where we stand on things, and we also have got to talk to them out in the field.”