Detroit voters decide city’s political future

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Voters across Detroit headed to the polls Tuesday to determine a full slate of newly elected officials, most notable of which is the mayor’s race between City Council President Mary Sheffield and megachurch pastor Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. 

Other races include City Council seats in all seven districts and at-large seats, Board of Police Commissioners and Community Advisory Council members. Polls closed at 8 p.m.

Just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, Brendan O’Leary, 37, of Detroit, cast his ballot at Detroit Lions Academy for Sheffield. The open mayor’s race drew him out to the polls, but he said he and his wife try to vote in every election.

“I liked her policies,” he said of Sheffield. “I thought she did well in her city council position.”

O’Leary added he wants to see the development and economic progress that he said has been made over the last several years continue under her watch. His top priorities: Growing the city’s tax base and creating job opportunities for Detroiters.

Detroiter Lisa Dixon, meanwhile, voted for Kinloch. The 57-year-old social worker said, after emerging from the voting booth at Detroit Lions Academy, that she likes that he’s a political outsider.

“I feel like we just need to start with something new, something fresh,” she said.

At the Mark Twain School for Scholars in Southwest Detroit, voter turnout was slow Tuesday morning. By 10:40 a.m., only 26 people had voted in precinct 484, said poll worker Frances Johnson. The school was also the location for precinct 485, where 38 people voted by 10:45 a.m., said election chairperson Rachel Szlaga. 

By 11 a.m., more voters began to trickle in, including Yolanda Russell, 55, and her daughter Ava Keith, 21. The two live down the street from Mark Twain and are concerned about air pollution in the neighborhood from the nearby Marathon refinery. 

The mother and daughter declined to say who they voted for in the mayor’s race, but told BridgeDetroit that they selected state Rep. Tyrone Carter in the District 6 City Council race. Carter is running against incumbent Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero.

“Tyrone has been in this community his whole life, and I just believe he has the community’s best interest at heart,” Russell said.

When it comes to making sure Detroit is a place where people can thrive, Keith said that she wants the city to continue pushing the positive things that are happening. She believes some people still see Detroit only as a poor, crime-riddled city. 

“That was old Detroit; we’re going into a new era,” Keith said. “We got the good energy from the people that are here, but we need to start branching out more and getting the overall presentation of Detroit.”

At Bagley Elementary School in District 2, voter Violet Barber cast her ballot for Detroit’s next mayor.

“It was a toss-up, but I picked Solomon (Kinloch). For me and Sheffield, there’s a history there, that’s all I’ll say,” she said.

Barber said she wants to “get the right people in the right seats.”

“You know, people that can help build the community, build the city, not just parts of it but all of it,” she added.

Katherine Chmielewski also voted at Bagley, but said that she is backing Sheffield.

“I chose Mary Sheffield, and I just feel like I aligned with her values and the way that she is a representative of the people,” she said.

Why you should vote

2025 is a critical election year for residents of Detroit. For the first time in 12 years, Mike Duggan won’t be a candidate for Detroit mayor.

If Sheffield wins, she will be the first woman to be elected mayor in Detroit. Whoever is chosen to lead the city will face major challenges moving forward. The end of nearly $1 billion in federal pandemic relief funds could mean cuts to key programs that the city — still among the nation’s poorest big cities — has come to rely on. President Donald Trump is, meanwhile, deploying military troops to Democrat-led urban centers and taking steps to dismantle Medicaid and other social services vital to cities like Detroit, while waging a tariff war that the Detroit Three automakers say could cost them billions.

Residents have been able to vote absentee for the last 40 days and in person for nine days of early voting. As of Sunday night, 58,209 ballots were already cast, with nearly 4,000 of those coming from early voting centers.

City of Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey said on Friday she expects 18-23% voter turnout, or between 94,000 and 114,000 votes total. Of those, 56,000 are expected to come in on Election Day.

In the August primary, 85,971 ballots were cast, less than 17% turnout.

Who is running

Write-in candidates

For many of the races, especially the Board of Police Commissioners and Community Advisory Council seats, most of the candidates are write-ins. Even the mayor’s race and City Council seats have write-in candidates you may not have heard of. These individuals have been certified to run as write-ins by the City Clerk’s office. To vote for one, write their name in the space provided and fill in the oval bubble next to their name. Filling in the oval is important; your vote won’t count if the oval is left blank.

Above is a sample ballot so you can see what it will look like. You can check out your own by visiting the Michigan Voter Information Center and entering your address. 

However, this does not include the write-in candidates. If you would like to see a sample ballot with the write-in candidates available for your district, check out Ballotpedia’s sample ballot tool.

Detroit Free Press reporter Clara Hendrickson contributed to this report.