Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield has a sizable cash pool to launch a reelection bid in four years. Campaign finance disclosures show she has $644,823 left to spend after raising just shy of $3 million in her first mayoral campaign.
Consider the funds as a political launch pad. The law allows candidates to hold on to unspent donations for their next race. If Sheffield doesn’t seek reelection and terminates her committee, she could donate the funds to a political party committee, a tax exempt charity or refund donors, among other things.
Sheffield is expected to create a social welfare nonprofit that can promote her agenda and accept unlimited contributions with no obligation to report its donors. She wouldn’t be legally allowed to give such “dark money” entities her unspent funds.
The leftover cash is another way to understand how well Sheffield’s operation raised money. For comparison, outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan had nearly $400,000 left to spend after his last victory in 2021 and $211,000 after his 2017 win.
Sheffield Campaign Manager Chris Scott estimated it would take $3 million to win the race by tracking Duggan’s past fundraising hauls. The mayor-elect basically hit the target, raising $2.97 million through the 2025 campaign.
“I wanted to send a message that if we’re returning to Black leadership, if we’re putting the youngest, it has to be resounding that she is the person for this moment, and we have to beat (Duggan) on all these metrics,” Scott said.
Sheffield’s fundraising prowess overwhelmed opponent Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. during the general election. Sheffield’s remaining cash on hand is comparable to what Kinloch raised overall ($739,844). Most of the funds for both candidates came from people who live outside Detroit.
Sheffield spent $2.7 million, including $630,707 in the final weeks of the race. Kinloch spent $728,562 overall.
A surge of donations came in for Sheffield in the final stretch of the race. Sheffield raked in $245,014 from donors from Oct. 20 through Nov. 24.
Kinloch raised $33,373 from individuals and loaned his campaign $45,500 during the same time period. Disclosures show Kinloch loaned his campaign $191,230 total.