Highland Park Mayor Glenda McDonald and two community activists have filed campaign committees to lead Highland Park, the city within Detroit of less than 10,000 residents.
Community activist Joshua Lamere and Shamayim “Mama Shu” Harris have also filed campaign committees with the Wayne County Clerk.
The Aug. 4 primary and Nov. 3 general elections will elect Highland Park’s mayor, five council members (two at-Large, one from each of the three districts), City Clerk and City Treasurer.
The filing deadline for candidates is April 21 at 4pm.
Court challenges left McDonald as the only name on the ballot in the Nov. 2022 election, where Highland Park City Council President Carlton Clyburn, Jerry Massey, and Maurice Turner all mounted write-in campaigns.
“When I took office, Highland Park faced serious challenges—but we refused to accept
decline as our destiny,” McDonald said. “Together, we chose progress over paralysis,
accountability over excuses, and action over empty promises. The results speak for
themselves.”
McDonald, who has lived in Highland Park since 1971, said during her first campaign that the city needed to increase tax revenues to address dangerous blight, spur economic development and support existing retail in the city’s commercial corridor.
During her tenure, Highland Park has launched a hot meal program for seniors, secured nearly $1 million for rec center upgrades, installed 10 solar-powered streetlights (with another 50 scheduled or Spring 2026) through partnerships with Soulidarity and Solartronic, and completed a one-mile stretch of the Joe Louis Greenway in collaboration with the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership.
Prior to politics, McDonald was the founder of the McDonald PhelpsFoundation, a nonprofit that service at-risk youth by providing supplementary educational services. She was elected to the Highland Park Board of Education in 2012, then to the charter comission in 2014, before being elected as city council president pro-tem in 2015.
She also ran for mayor in 2019 before her victory in 2022, losing by 28 votes to former Mayor Hubert Yopp.
“I am running for reelection to finish what we started and to continue fighting for
every resident, every business, and every family that calls Highland Park home,” McDonald said in a press release.
McDonald’s campaign raised $1,200 during the latest reporting period, ending the cycle with $587. Her campaign has been largely self-funded, according to Wayne County campaign finance records.
Harris, better known as Mama Shu, is the founder of the Avalon Village. Harris’ “eco-village” provides community resources from what used to be a blighted, vacant lot.
Her efforts to revitalize her block after the murders of her two sons has received national attention. Harris was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes in 2023, and was in the running for the network’s $100,000 2023 Hero of the Year award.
The developments on Avalon Street, between Woodward and Second Ave., includes the Homework House for students, a marketplace for entrepreneurs a garden and a basketball court.
