Detroit voters expressed a range of shock and disappointment to hope and determination Wednesday as they processed the news that Republican candidate Donald Trump was declared president-elect and prevailed in Michigan in what had been expected to be a tight battle with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I am saddened, disheartened, and completely lost faith in the country,” said Khalil Dawsey, 23, who voted for Harris at the polls on Election Day.
Although Michigan saw the most ballots cast in the state’s history, Detroit’s turnout – 47% – dipped below projections of 51-55%, like it has been in more recent elections. In 2016, when Trump also won Michigan and the presidency, Detroit’s turnout was 49%.
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Omar Mitchell, chef and owner at downtown Detroit restaurant Table No. 2, was pleased with the presidential election outcome. But he said that the low voter turnout was heartbreaking.
“It’s just important that we as Americans take advantage of that and vote. But I also know that, as a fellow Detroiter, we’re so exhausted with this politician, that politician saying what they’re going to do, then they get in the office and then they don’t do it,” he said.
Northeast Detroiter Al Carter worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at local polling locations, helping 30 people vote for the first time.
“Still cannot believe Trump won,” he told BridgeDetroit. “Today is Wednesday, let’s keep working,” the commercial real estate developer said.
The results, some Detroit voters fear, will have drastic effects on issues that mattered most to Detroiters, like women’s reproductive rights and K-12 education. Others hope it will mean a better economy and reduced inflation.
After voting Tuesday, Dawsey told BridgeDetroit that he felt like social media played a big part in the decision-making process for people his age.
“TikTok for my generation has been a big thing. Living in the age of information, everything you want to find is kind of easily accessible, using our research, with whatever tools I have access to, whether it be Google, news outlets, or social media,” he said.
TikTok is the number one source of news for Gen Z, multiple polls show – and the news found on the platform may not always be accurate. TikTok banned all political ads in 2019, but just weeks prior to this year’s election the app began publishing election disinformation ads, according to the watchdog group Global Witness.
Dawsey said he was concerned about how the election results would impact the city’s K-12 education system.
Trump has said if he reclaimed the presidency for another four years he would eliminate the Department of Education. The department administers federal funding to K-12 schools, manages federal student loan and financial aid programs, and investigates discrimination in education complaints among other responsibilities.
“Detroit is known to be one of the more underperforming areas as far as public education, and just [Trump’s] specific prospects for the Department of Education, I am not convinced that things will improve,” he said.
Just 16% of Detroit students tested proficient in English language arts in 2024 in the statewide standardized test, M-STEP, compared to 40.5% statewide.
“It will get much worse before it gets better and that makes me sad,” Dawsey added.
Mitchell said he’s hopeful that under Trump the economy will begin to improve.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “When Trump was in office, when I was in the restaurant business, the economy was thriving, and folks was making money, and the recession was not there, and cost of goods was down. So I can only hope and imagine that it goes back to that, if not better,” said Mitchell, who didn’t disclose who he voted for but noted that he is an Independent.
During their presidencies, Trump and Biden both struggled with the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the economy, but the average annual growth rate under both administrations was almost the exact same, according to Forbes. Inflation, the rate that prices rise, is currently higher than when Trump left office, but more than double the amount of jobs have been created under the Biden administration, compared to when Trump was previously in office.
“Ms. Harris put up a great fight, and I’m super proud of her, but I think the world is better right now with someone experienced that can get this economy where it needs to be,” said Mitchell, calling on people to support his restaurant while it struggles with inflation.
Former educator Samara Etheridge, 42, said she is still processing the news of Trump’s win. She said she’s been trying to reassure her two children, ages 14 and 16, that change is still possible, despite the Trump win.
“I know especially my youngest, he was definitely team Kamala and was very vocal in his support,” she said. “I think just kind of reassuring him that even though the candidate that we selected did not win, what kinds of things that we can do to support and affect change.”
Trump, who banned immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States during his first week in office in 2016, won Dearborn, where more than half of the residents are of Middle Eastern descent and many are Muslim. Harris received 36.26% of the votes in Dearborn.
In reaction to news that Trump won Dearborn amid Arab American and Muslim voters’ protest of the war in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen, Detroit Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero said: “War never wins.”
The Dearborn Mayor’s office could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud congratulated all the Dearborn residents who voted, for performing their civic duty. Still, a win for Harris in Dearborn wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the race in Michigan or overall.
“While political pundits analyze the outcomes, here is what I know; votes are never promised to any party or candidate, especially from a community directly impacted by a genocide,” he wrote.
Many Detroiters showing up to the polls Tuesday to vote for Harris said that protecting women’s reproductive rights was a top priority for them in this year’s election. Trump, who was influential in overturning Roe V. Wade, has said abortion should be banned and that there should be punishment for people who receive illegal abortions. In the weeks before the election a super PAC spent nearly $20 million on ads to help win over pro-choice voters, claiming Trump and the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had similar views on the topic.
Paula Thornton Greear, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Michigan and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, said Harris’ “loss hits hard.”
“But everything we’re feeling now — rage, sadness, loss, fear — will fuel the next phase of our fight. Because the fight for reproductive freedom does not end here,” she said. “No matter what lies ahead, we will be here fighting to ensure Planned Parenthood patients get the sexual and reproductive care they need, just like we always have. We will hold our ground and forge ahead, until everyone — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or income level — has the freedom to make the decisions that are best for their bodies, their lives, and their futures.”
Daniel Kanka, a 38-year-old hardware engineer, said he was still in shock.
“What happened yesterday?,” he said, concerned about the negative impacts on women’s reproductive rights and climate change.
Kanka said Trump’s win means efforts to address the climate crisis are over. Trump has previously called climate change a hoax and vowed to drill for more oil and gas to keep the United States the number one producer of oil in the world, and to roll back environmental regulations.
“Climate change is not even a thing for the Trump presidency,” said Kanka, noting that the last time Trump was president he withdrew the United States from the 2016 Paris Agreement, an international agreement signed by nearly 200 countries on how to limit global warming.
“Climate change – it’s done.”
Bryce Huffman contributed to this report
