Mike Duggan to Run for Third Term as Detroit Mayor
By Louis Aguilar
Bridge Detroit
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced a run for a third term, a stretch not seen since Coleman Young held the office for five terms.
Duggan declared his intentions Wednesday on a Facebook live stream that can be watched here. He was joined by an impressive group of supporters. Among them were Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Detroit NAACP head the Rev. Wendell Anthony, former city health office director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and a half-dozen residents and community leaders, all of whom praised Duggan’s first two terms in a recorded video.
Duggan touted his track record on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic; his previous focus on bolstering basic city services; the ability to woo major employers like the new FCA_Jeep plant and Ford Motor Co.’s plans for Michigan Central Station and Corktown, and his commitment to affordable housing.
Duggan, 62, was first elected Detroit’s mayor in 2013. He is Detroit’s first white mayor since Roman Gribbs, who served from 1970 to 1974, when the city was majority white. Detroit’s primary is in August and the general election is November. Beside mayor, City Council positions will also be on the ballot.
Absent in Wednesday’s campaign rally was any mention of Duggan’s ongoing disputes with local leaders of the Black Lives Matter marches over police reform. Nor was there any mention of the criticism Duggan faces for his use of tax incentives to lure major developments and whether enough is being to save neighborhoods — both of which are part of the never-ending debate about development in the city.
Duggan is the first to formally declare himself a candidate for mayor. State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, whose term ends this year, told Crain’s Detroit Business she is stil considering a run. Lawyer Anthony Adams, a former deputy Mayor in the Kwame Kilpatrick administration, has formed a committee exploring a run. Adams remains undecided, he said in Thursday press release.