WASHINGTON (AP) — Detroit voters will take a key step toward choosing a new mayor in the municipal primary on Tuesday, when nine candidates will appear on the ballot in the city’s first open-seat mayoral race in a dozen years.
The top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan primary will advance to the November general election. The winner will replace outgoing three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor of Michigan as an independent.
The crowded field includes former police chief James Craig, city council member Fred Durhal, former city council president Saunteel Jenkins, Triumph Church pastor Solomon Kinloch, attorney Todd Perkins and current city council president Mary Sheffield. Also in the running are businessmen Jonathan Barlow and Joel Haashiim and three-time mayoral hopeful DaNetta Simpson.
Sheffield leads the field in campaign fundraising. She brought in nearly $1.3 million since entering the race in December, more than double the roughly $574,000 Jenkins raised. Kinloch raised about $408,000, while Perkins and Durhal each raised more than $250,000. Sheffield also had about $451,000 in the bank heading into the final two-week stretch before the primary, more than double the rest of the field combined.
Sheffield’s major endorsements include the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan branch of the SEIU labor union. Jenkins was endorsed by The Detroit News and former Mayor Dave Bing, Duggan’s immediate predecessor. Durhal has the backing of the mayors of Lansing, Grand Rapids and Pontiac, all of whom are former colleagues from the state Legislature.
Although Michigan voters do not register by party and candidates for mayor do not run on a party label, most candidates in the field identify with the Democratic Party. Craig, on the other hand, is a Republican, having sought the GOP nomination for governor in 2022 and the U.S. Senate in 2024.
The Detroit electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic. In 2024, voters in the city supported Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump by about a 9-1 ratio.
The city faces a vastly different situation than it did when Duggan was first elected in 2013. In July of that year, it became the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy. The city now has a budget surplus, 12 years of balanced budgets under its belt and projected economic growth for the next five years. Homicides and violent crimes are down, while the city’s population is up for the second consecutive year, according to the U.S. census.
Still, the next mayor will face numerous challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing and vast economic disparities along racial lines.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Michigan’s mandatory recount law does not apply to Detroit’s mayoral primary. Instead, candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the payment refunded if the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here’s a look at what to expect on Tuesday:
Primary day
Detroit’s mayoral primary will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in Detroit’s nonpartisan primary for mayor. Detroit, as well as cities and towns across Michigan, will hold a variety of other municipal elections on Tuesday, but they will not be included in the AP’s vote tabulation.
Who gets to vote
Any voter registered in Detroit may participate in the mayoral primary.
What do turnout and advance vote look like
There were about 518,000 registered voters in Detroit as of late July.
In the 2021 mayoral primary, turnout was about 14% of registered voters. About 67% of votes in that election were cast before primary day.
As of Thursday, more than 41,000 ballots had been cast before primary day. Michigan adopted early in-person voting starting with the 2024 election season.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the Aug. 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results in Wayne County at 8:21 p.m. ET, or 21 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended the following day at 9:17 a.m. ET with about 98% of total votes counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the November general election for Detroit mayor.
