Voters tasked with choosing the next Detroit City Council member in District 7 replaced a pro-business former state legislator with a self-described leftist whose campaign was largely funded by Democratic Socialists across the country.
Denzel McCampbell, 34, pledged during his city council campaign to bring the power of the west side district’s council office to the people. He said in an interview Tuesday one of the first tasks on council would be to explore how Detroit can implement a resident-driven funding model.
While the August primary was decided by 50 votes, the general election fared worse for state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, who was defeated by McCampbell, a former city charter commissioner and member of the Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists and Working Families Party.
McCampbell beat Whitsett by nearly 3,000 votes. He received 59% of the vote, to Whitsett’s 40%.
“Congratulations Councilman McCampbell!” Whitsett said on social media. “Your hard work paid off. Now let’s work together to keep Detroit moving forward.”
McCampbell told Michigan Chronicle he wants to explore implementing district by district participatory budgeting, a process that lets community members decide how to spend all or part of a public budget. Supporters say it gives residents actual power over how public dollars are spent.
“We have council by district, and having a pot of money that residents can come together and decide on, whether it’s a pocket park in the community or a different kind of project, we should be able to get behind that and really bring folks together,” McCampbell said.
Chicago was the first major city to adopt participatory budgeting in 2009, followed by New York City in 2011. Today, the process spans various city districts, but the first project involved just one ward with 60,000 inhabitants.
In the first process in Chicago, any resident of a target area above 16 submit ideas to improve the district’s infrastructure. Then, a selected committee of community representatives and volunteers evaluated the ideas and turned them into proposals.
All district residents voted for the winning proposals, and the winning 16 of 36 proposals were recommended to the relevant city department.
Participatory budgeting in Chicago has been a success and is now implemented in various wards throughout the city. The proposal submissions and voting are managed online, so residents can engage with the projects more regularly and at their convenience.
McCampbell also said that one of his first priorities after being sworn in on Jan. 1. will be alleviating the property tax burden.
“How do we look at other sources of revenue to help alleviate property taxes folks are having to pay?” McCampbell said.
McCampbell says he will continue to engage residents to identify needs ahead of the city budgeting process next year, reiterating his campaign pledge to address the desires of residents who don’t typically get a seat at the table.
“You look at Zohran’s campaign, you think about District 7, you think about the city of Detroit, folks want representatives that are putting them first, that are making sure it’s more affordable to live in Detroit,” McCampbell said. “Also this dynamic that the power is with our residents, that the power is not with corporations, the power is not with billionaires.”
Neither McCampbell or Santiago-Romero accepted donations to their campaigns from corporate PACs, which has become a hallmark of progressive campaigns.
“When I talk to people about not taking corporate PAC dollars, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s what we need because you’re going to be accountable to us.’ I think that’s what folks are getting behind, they’re tired of politics as usual. They really want something fresh and that’s what I’m trying to bring,” McCampbell said.
The Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America chapter was a major part of McCampbell’s operation having knocked on over 18,000 doors on his behalf during the campaign. He raised more than $160,000 from donors across the country, more than any council candidate.
“Denzel’s victory is a demonstration of a trend visible in New York City and across the country — DSA’s model of grassroots organizing building for working people across lines of color and gender is effective and popular,” the organization said in a press release.
McCampbell currently works as managing director of Progress Michigan, a left-leaning statewide advocacy organization. He’s worked as a communications director for U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
He will replace former state Rep. Fred Durhal III, who was elected after winning the seat by dozens of votes in 2021.
District 7 spans across the city’s northwest side from Puritan, Livernois, Tireman, Greenfield to W. Warren and the city limit to the I-96 Jeffries Freeway.
