Mayor Mike Duggan advances to the November general election with a resounding 50,853 votes over opponent Anthony Adams 7, 014 votes. Detroit’s primary race featured fourteen individuals, and after Tuesday’s election, the race for the city’s next mayor has come down to the final two candidates.
Duggan’s victory is not shocking to some across the city, including prominent backers who see the incumbent official as deserving of a third term.
Since January, the mayor raised more than $1.1 million for his reelection campaign compared with Anthony Adams, the second-highest candidate at $160,575, according to submitted campaign finance records.
The Michigan Chronicle Editorial Board recently endorsed Duggan for a third term.
His journey as mayor began when he took office in January of 2014. The city was gripped under a cloud of municipal bankruptcy and state emergency management. Duggan’s plan included installing 60,000 LED streetlights, trash collection, public transportation, improving response time for the police and fire departments, and demolishing abandoned structures or renovating them feasible.
Mayor Duggan has spent eight years trying to keep the city’s budget balanced, render essential city services, and persuade businesses to set up shop and bring jobs for Detroiters.
Some critics have questioned the mayor’s approach and policy — noting that Black residents are left out of economic development. However, Duggan’s administration has argued that it understands the gravity of providing good-paying jobs and touts it has done so by Duggan’s appointment and leadership of Nicole-Sherard-Freeman, an African American woman who serves as Group Executive of Jobs, Economy, and Detroit at Work.
“The incredible success of Detroit at Work under Nicole’s leadership has become our most effective selling point from an economic standpoint,” Duggan said in a written statement. “Major corporations are looking at Detroit now as a great place to locate based on the strength of our workforce and our ability to produce a list of job candidates.”
As the race looks ahead to the fall, the question of opportunity for all or a select few could be one of the driving issues along with the current administration handling of crime in the city that Duggan’s rival opponent Anthony Adams leverages in attempts to create a choice for Detroiters to consider.
Adams vows to add more resources for Detroit residents.
“We got to be much more aggressive in going out and reaching our young men and women and engage them in programs designed to assist them in changing their lives, changing their focus.”
Detroiters will vote to elect the next mayor in the fall general election set for Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
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