On May 1, the Detroit Chamber of Commerce announced that it would be hosting a debate at this month’s Mackinac Policy Conference featuring candidates running in Detroit’s pending mayoral race. But the announcement didn’t include a list of candidates who would be participating.
On May 9, the chamber said in a statement that the debate would feature five of the top polling candidates: City Council President Mary Sheffield, City Councilman Fred Durhal III, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, former Detroit City Council President Saunteel Jenkins, and Triumph Church Pastor Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Entrepreneur Joel Haashiim, attorney Todd Perkins, entrepreneur Jonathan Barlow, and criminal justice advocate Dean Evans – all of whom have successfully turned in their petitions to appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot – were not invited to participate in the debate.
“The Mackinac Policy Conference is a unique opportunity for the candidates for mayor of Michigan’s largest city to present their vision to our state’s premier leaders in the business, philanthropy, education, and civic sectors,” the Chamber said in a statement.
“Due to time and space constraints, the Chamber is not able to include all candidates in this event. To narrow the participant field, the Detroit Regional Chamber Political Action Committee (PAC), comprising senior business leaders affiliated with the Chamber, met to evaluate the candidates for consideration. Given the early stage of the campaign, the PAC relied upon a number of factors to determine which candidates to invite. These factors included fundraising, available polling, endorsements, leadership experience, and PAC members’ perspectives of the candidates. There was no singular overriding criterion. Ultimately, the Chamber PAC unanimously selected the (chosen) candidates to invite.”
Over the past few weeks, at least eight of the candidates have participated in various forums hosted by different groups across the city, the first of which was hosted at the Riverside Marina by the African American Leadership Institute.
Invitations to participate in the debate do not imply an endorsement by the Chamber. The Chamber appreciates all candidates’ willingness to put their name forward for public service. The Chamber will announce its plans regarding an endorsement process later this year.
This year’s Mackinac Policy Conference will be hosted from May 27-May 30, but no additional details about the mayoral debate have been made available.
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