Voters in Detroit and across the state are hitting the polls Tuesday to usher in new mayors, clerks and city council members.
The contests in key Detroit council districts where voters are choosing candidates representing different versions of the Democratic vision could shine a light into the state’s gubernatorial and Congressional races ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
You can find your polling place online at the Michigan Voter Information Center here or by calling the Detroit City Clerk at (313) 224-3270.
If you are not registered to vote you can complete your voter registration and vote on Election Day at the Department of Elections (2978 W. Grand Blvd) or the City Clerk’s Office (2 Woodward Ave). Make sure to bring your Michigan driver’s license or state ID card, a bank statement, utility bill or any government document with your name and Detroit address on it.
Here is where you can see the unofficial results: City of Detroit Elections Department: Municipal General Election Results – November 4, 2025.
Polls close at 8pm, so expect unofficial results to flow in afterward throughout Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning.
Detroit City Council races:
Detroit City Council’s District 5 race features a matchup between UAW-backed Renata Miller, and Willie Burton, a board of police commissioner, who says he would form coalitions among progressives if elected to council.
Both candidates would assume the office with a group of vocal critics opposing them.
Miller, who is endorsed by a number of unions, former city council candidates and faces allegations of mismanaging funds during her tenure as president of the Historic Indian Village Neighborhood Association. The group is currently in a legal fight to gain control of its bank account, P.O. Box, taxes and email newsletter. Miller has defended her actions and rejected the claims from the group’s current leadership, which she says has no legal standing.
She has also been criticized for Facebook posts describing homosexuality as a sin. Miller told Michigan Chronicle last month the posts, still visible on her profile, do not represent her current views on same-sex marriage. She suggested the opposition against her from white Indian Village residents is racially motivated.
She has advocated for community-led development and boosting small businesses through grants and opportunities to access capital.
Burton has been criticized by his opponents for a personal protection order filed against him in a Wayne County Circuit Court, alleging he continued to make contact with a woman he says was his ex-fiance in February, 2016 when he was 35.
He told Michigan Chronicle last week in an interview downtown he would form a coalition among other progressives on council and running for it, including Gabriela Santiago-Romero and candidate Denzel McCampbell.
The district has been represented for more than a decade by Detroit City Council Council President Mary Sheffield, who would become the city’s first woman mayor if sworn in on Jan. 1.
The Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., who has questioned Sheffield’s judgement and personal connections in the final days of his campaign, is all that stands in Sheffield’s way. She has pitched a vision of investing in neighborhoods while continuing the work she started under outgoing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
Sheffield says she will vote Tuesday at 11am at the Horatio Williams Foundation on Antietam Avenue.
While in Detroit’s mayor’s race, Pastor Kinloch will spend Election Day attempting to somehow upend Sheffield, the long-shot favorite, certain city council races should be more competitive.
The tightest race may be on the city’s west side, in District 7, where controversial state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, and Democratic Socialist Denzel McCampbell, square off to replace outgoing council member Fred Durhal III.
Durhal ran for mayor instead of running for reelection.
Whitsett has faced sharp criticism for walking out during last year’s legislative session that left number of Democratic priorities that affected Detroiters sidelined. But Durhal told Michigan Chronicle that he wouldn’t endorse a candidate in the race, saying both would bring different talents to council. McCampbell has said his vision for Detroit includes everyone, not just the billionaire class.
District 6, which covers Southwest Detroit, voters will choose between a younger, more progressive incumbent Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, or state Rep. Tyrone Carter, who has touted his roots in the area and his work defending immigrant communities representing Southwest Detroit in the state Legislature.
The Southwest Detroit District didn’t have a primary election because Detroit election law skips it entirely when there are only two candidates on the ballot. A legal challenge reversed a Detroit Elections Department decision earlier this year to remove Santiago-Romero from the November ballot after the Wayne County Clerk alleged her campaign hadn’t submitted a required form. She will appear on the ballot along with Carter.
In District 2, Angela Whitfield Calloway faces Roy McCallister, a former council member who represented the northwest part of the city prior to Calloway’s term. During the August primary, Calloway received 7,425 votes (44%) compared to McCallister’s 4,983 (29%).
Voters can choose to elect new Detroit City Council at-large members in former councilwoman Janee Ayers and community relations fire chief James Harris. Or they can stick with incumbents Mary Waters and Coleman A. Young II. Both incumbents won by significant margins in the August primary election.
Outside of Detroit, some Metro Detroit communities are also voting on bond and millage proposals. The Novi Community School District on Tuesday is asking voters to approve a $425 million bond to improve school district facilities. South Lyon is asking voters to approve a more than $300 bond to do the same thing as districts say they have no choice but to ask communities to take on more debt to adequately teach students. Lake Orion Community Schools and Rockford Public Schools are both requesting more than $200.
Across Metro Detroit:
In Southfield, a city clerk candidate who has been described by liberal critics as a 2020 election denier, could become the winner as a result of running on unopposed after the Democratic candidate was disqualified. He faces write-in challengers, but his name will be the only one to appear on the ballot.
Michigan Democrats have expressed concern over Grossbard’s ability to run the clerk’s office, citing his support for President Donald Trump, who hasn’t let go of the fact he lost the 2020 election.
Grossbard, who lost his 2023 bid to current Southfield Clerk Janet Jackson, is poised to become the city’s next clerk after Jackson was disqualified from running again. Though, Southfield employee Wynett Guy and councilwoman Coretta Houge are running as write-in candidates.
In Dearborn, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud faces conservative challenger, Nagi Almudhegi, who is seeking to translate the city’s vote for Trump in 2024 for his own mayoral campaign.
Hammoud, a former state representative, won the support of Dearborn’s Arab and Muslim community for standing with the Uncommitted movement in 2024, which spawned in Michigan.
On Feb. 27, 2024, Democrats including Hammoud upset with former President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, encouraged voters to vote “Uncommitted” on Democratic primary ballots. Biden did not face a primary challenger, but lost Dearborn to the Uncommitted movement before Harris ultimately lost the city to President Donald Trump.
Hammoud recently faced criticism for defending an honorary street renaming from a local protestor who was told by his mayor he wasn’t welcome in Dearborn. The interaction received national attention and condemnation from Republicans.
In Hamtramck, City Council member Muhith Mahmood, Adam Alharbi and write-in candidate, Lynn Blasey are running to replace Mayor Amer Ghalib, who recently faced tough criticism in a U.S. Senate panel over his appointment to become the U.S. Ambassador of Kuwait.
Ghalib supported Trump during his campaign against former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who won the city of Hamtramck.
He was rewarded by an appointment by the president. However, his past remarks criticizing the U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine have turned off key Republican senators he needs to confirm his nomination to the position.
Blasey, a write-in canddiate, and the only white woman running for the seat, say she would balance smart development with the needs of our residents. She said in an interview with WDET she would represent the city in a way that reflects the city in a more positive light than current leaders.
