By Sam Robinson, Senior Reporter
(Photo: D’Mareae Miller)
Detroit City Council president and mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield on Wednesday announced an endorsement from EMILY’s List, a national PAC known for boosting pro-choice women candidates.
EMILY’s List endorsed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for reelection, council president Helena Moreno for mayor of New Orleans, and Sheffield for mayor of Detroit.
Electing Democratic, pro-choice mayors under the current Trump administration is critical, the PAC said in a statement. The Washington DC-based group says Trump is attacking access to health care and creating economic instability for working families.
“As the youngest person ever elected to the Detroit city council in 2013, Council President Mary Sheffield has continuously put the needs of Detroiters first,” EMILY’s List president Jessica Mackler said in a statement. “She has fought against discrimination in the workplace, worked to provide affordable housing, and been a staunch supporter of reproductive rights. EMILYs List is proud to support her in this race to become Detroit’s first woman mayor.”
Sheffield’s campaign says it expects to receive another national endorsement and several local labor endorsements next week.
“EMILY’s List endorsement further amplifies Sheffield’s position as a leading contender in the mayoral race and strengthens her campaign’s momentum going into the summer months,” a spokesperson for her campaign said in a statement.
The group which financially backs candidates who support abortion rights celebrated its 40th anniversary last month in DC. The group’s name is an acronym for “Early Money Is Like Yeast,” because as their founder put it, “it makes the dough rise.”
EMILY’s List has helped elect 221 members of Congress, 20 governors, and 1,600 local legislators.
It’s the latest national endorsement for Sheffield. She was endorsed by attorney Ben Crump and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison earlier this year. Sheffield also has the backing of major local unions, including SEIU Michigan, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.
Other mayoral candidates include nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins, councilman Fred Durhal III, former police chief James Craig, businessmen John Barlow and Joel Haashiim and pastor Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Kinloch celebrated his endorsement from the United Auto Workers last weekend at the union’s headquarters on Jefferson at a joint rally with UAW president Shawn Fain.
