Highland Park’s current mayor says she will request a recount after losing Tuesday’s election to a longtime community leader.
Shamayim Harris, known as “Mama Shu,” won the mayoral race in the 2.9-square-mile city, according to unofficial race results.
Harris narrowly beat incumbent Glenda McDonald by a margin of just 27 votes. Harris received 50% of the votes, whereas McDonald garnered 49%. Harris, founder of the nonprofit Avalon Village, campaigned on her role as a city leader and her experience as a school administrator, mother, minister and community builder.
“Highland Park has always had what it needs: its people. For nearly two decades at Avalon Village, we’ve transformed blight to beauty. I didn’t want to leave Highland Park and move to a beautiful place; I wanted to make where I live beautiful. Now we get to do that work for the whole city and I am truly honored and overjoyed to get started. I ran on results you can see, and I will regularly report to residents on what we’re getting done,” Harris, 61, said in a statement after the election.
Harris said she intends to launch a task force to tackle vacant land and illegal dumping, focus on community-centered public safety and bring investment and small businesses to Highland Park, a city with a population of nearly 9,000. She also campaigned on job training, entrepreneurship and getting citywide communications out to residents.
“As I’ve said throughout the campaign – our administration will focus on citizens first,” Harris, who received an outpouring of support on social media, said Wednesday, Nov. 4.
McDonald, reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, said she had no comments other than that she’ll be asking for a recount.
“If it’s still the same, I will be conceding the race and wishing Mama Shu well,” she said.
In a statement, Harris spokesperson Amber Ogden said Harris respects the election process and fully supports her opponent’s right to request a recount.
“She remains focused on serving our community and looks forward to working together for the future of Highland Park once the final results are official,” Ogden told the Free Press.
Avalon Village — which focuses on transforming vacant and blighted land in Highland Park — came about after Harris’ 2-year-old son, Jakobi RA Harris, was killed in a 2007 hit and run. Then, in 2021, her other son, Chinyelu Humphrey, was fatally shot.
She has said that she feels as though her sons are still with her, speaking to her over her shoulder, influencing her actions. Their memory inspired her to turn “blight to beauty” on Avalon Street, between Woodward and Second Avenue. The village has more than 40 parcels of land and 5 houses, including a Homework House for afterschool learning, a marketplace for women entrepreneurs and a healing space.
Harris, recognized as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes in 2023 and among USA Today’s 2024 Women of the Year, was born in Highland Park and grew up in Detroit. She moved back to Highland Park in 2003.
Harris turned over leadership of Avalon Village to her daughters, Aziza Brent and Kafi Humphrey.
McDonald led the August primary election with 49.6% of the votes. She served on Highland Park’s City Council for a full and partial term before becoming mayor in 2023.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.
