Detroit City Council will be made up of two new members once the nine-member body returns in the new year.
Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey posted to social media earlier this month that members were sworn in during a Dec. 9 orientation.
New members include Renata Miller, who replaces Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield in the District 5 office, and Denzel McCampbell, who takes over for councilman Fred Durhal III.
“To the people of District 5— thank you for trusting me with your hopes, your voices and your future. I do not take this responsibility lightly,” Miller said in an Instagram post highlighting her inauguration at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
McCampbell tells Michigan Chronicle he is hosting a public community event next month to celebrate his inauguration.
Members will also take part in a public swearing-in event at the Detroit Opera House Jan. 9 at 10am, which includes the mayor-elect.
Council members posted photos attending a city council holiday party last week.
“There’s something special about coming together to celebrate not just the season, but an amazing year of working side by side to make Detroit great,” council Pro Tem James Tate of District 1 said in a post to Facebook. “Grateful for every moment and person who makes this city strong. Here’s to carrying that momentum into 2026.”
There are a number of key questions facing the council, most apparent being who will become the next council president. Sheffield was elected president back in 2021, when she became the youngest council president in city history. She succeeded Brenda Jones.
During the former body’s final meeting in November, Durhal thanked his council colleagues for challenging him and working through their differences with respect. He told Angela Whitfield Calloway he respected her professionalism despite not always agreeing. She told Durhal his legislative background helped her stay up with what’s going on in Lansing and how it affects policy discussions in Detroit.
Durhal, viewed as a moderate Democrat, told District 6 councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero that she influenced him to be more progressive.
At-large member Coleman Young told Durhal he taught him how to “disagree without being disagreeable.”
Durhal called Tate, who is the longest serving member, the “ranking member and dean of the council.”
Durhal, who left his city council seat to ru for mayor, will serve as director of state government affairs under the Sheffield administration. The news was announced Tuesday at Mayor Mike Duggan’s final press conference. The three term mayor decided last year against running for mayor again to run for governor as an independent.
Duggan said Tuesday he leaves with a $105 million budget surplus.
Tate, who is the second ranking member as Pro Tem, has expressed a desire to become the council’s next president.
“It’s got a nice ring to it,” Tate joked with reporters after being referred to as “President Tate” during the final session day as he took over the body in Sheffield’s absence.
The city council selects its president and president pro tempore from among its members by majority vote of the members serving at its first regular session in January. The term for president and president pro tempore are four years.
The council president serves as the chair of the body and appoints committee assignments.
The duties of the City Council President Pro Tempore include exercising administrative responsibilities of the president during an extended absence of the president.
If a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor, the city council president shall succeed to the office until a new mayor is elected.
