Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ended his campaign for governor Thursday, saying he realized he didn’t have a path to victory as Democratic and independent voters are angry over rising gas prices caused by the Republican-backed war in Iran.
“Today was about facing reality,” Duggan told reporters at the Huntington Place Thursday afternoon.
Duggan thanked members of his campaign on Thursday, saying he informed his team this morning, hours after they announced an endorsement. He said the decision was made in the last 48 hours. Duggan acknowledged polling showing his campaign down nearly a dozen percentage points to the Democratic and Republican candidates, saying he felt like he didn’t have a path to win.
Duggan, who spent decades operating as a moderate Democrat, was supported by members of both parties when he launched his independent campaign for governor. He employed former staffers who worked for Republicans, and former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
He ran on his work as mayor of Detroit, saying at a recent governor debate he’s the only candidate talking about what he’s already done.
He told reporters Thursday at his press conference that he ran for governor as an independent to change politics, not to be a spoiler. Duggan reiterated there just wasn’t a national fundraising network for independent candidates, like what exists for Democrats and Republicans.
The three term mayor shocked politicos in December 2024 when he left the Democratic Party, citing his unpopularity with the left wing of the party and his frustration with Democrats who seemed desperate to attack President Donald Trump instead of finding a message of their own.
Duggan said he doesn’t plan to do anything before the primary, but would support candidates with a message of fixing Michigan schools and working across the aisle.
“I’m going to be watching, along with a whole lot of my supporters,” Duggan said. “The question is going to be in the fall… Do we see candidates focused less on attacking each other, and more about working together?”
Duggan suggested he expects to see more candidates running for local and state legislative offices take on a more bipartisan approach.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel slammed Duggan’s exit from the party and for months throughout his campaign accused the former mayor for being too friendly with Republican donors who contributed to his campaign.
But on Thursday, he invited Duggan’s supporters into the Democratic coalition.
“As we look ahead, we welcome Mayor Duggan’s supporters into our growing coalition as we work to elect a Democratic governor this November who will continue to move Michigan forward,” Hertel said.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who recently went back-and-forth with Duggan over corporate donors at a governors debate hosted by the UAW, thanked the former mayor for his tenure in Detroit, where she’s been a resident for 20 years.
“I want to thank Mayor Mike Duggan for what he brought to this race and for his years of service to Detroit,” Benson said in a statement. “At a time when politics can feel divided and cynical, we need more civility, more listening, and more people willing to work together to move our state forward.”
Duggan ending his campaign makes clearer the path for Benson to do what no Democratic candidate has done since 1960: win an election as a member of the outgoing governor’s party.
One of her newly announced endorsers Thursday, Wayne County Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch, told Michigan Chronicle that Benson’s campaign must begin reaching out to Black voters in order to win in November.
“As we extend this endorsement and prepare to work to elect Jocelyn Benson as governor, we are calling on her campaign to speak directly and substantively to the issues of concern to Black Michigan.”
Kinloch said a Benson administration must make clear that Black issues, such as protecting and expanding voting rights, ensuring universal access to healthcare, opening pathways to homeownership and building true economic equity are the foundation of her campaign.
Republican candidate for governor U.S. Rep. John James of Macomb County also thanked Duggan for, “his years of service to the people of Michigan and Detroit.”
Duggan cited Saginaw firefighter Chedrick Greene’s decisive win in Midland, Bay City and Saginaw counties as an indication Democratic voters would be less likely to support his campaign. He said the race was expected to be closer. Greene beat his Republican challenger by nearly 20 percentage points.
The leader of the Detroit Regional Chamber, which advocates for Metro Detroit’s business community, president and CEO Sandy Baruah, said Duggan’s campaign was important for the state.
“Obviously, I am disappointed that Mike Duggan’s campaign for governor is ending, but we are thankful for his leadership for Michigan and driving a critical conversation about how to move our state forward,” Baruah said.
It’s unclear where Duggan, a former hospital CEO, could end up. He didn’t say Thursday whether he intends to run for a different office in the future.
“I have had zero conversation with anybody about any job,” Duggan said.
