Who Will Duggan Pick In County Race?

Now that the first poll in the race for Wayne County Executive has shown that even the current declared candidates can’t make a significant break with voters, leaving half of them undecided, whoever Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan supports will be a formidable contender in this race. Duggan, an offspring of the Wayne County Democratic political machine who served as the top executive under former county boss Edward McNamara, can change the tide of the race if he were to come out and endorse a particular candidate.
Because no matter how his critics see his election, his historic ascendancy to the mayorship of Detroit, which being the anchor of Wayne County, makes Duggan the defacto Democratic leader in the county. What he says or does regarding the race for county executive will matter to voters outside of Detroit, including those who have long remained skeptical about all things Detroit. They now see him as a bridge between Detroit and the rest of the county.
However, the question remains whether Duggan will in fact choose sides in the race given the number of issues he has to tackle in Detroit. With the pressing matters before a new mayor, it will only be politically prudent to focus on those issues rather than pounding the pavement for a candidate seeking to become the next county executive.
But when I asked Eric Foster, who has inside knowledge abou the relationships of the different candidates and their ties to Duggan, he isn’t sure if the mayor will jump in.
“This stands to be anybody’s guess if Duggan will support either McNamara or Cavanagh or just do nothing,” Foster said.
Here’s the issue for Duggan who may be wondering who to support in this race.
Kevin McNamara, who has announced his candidacy, is the son of former executive Ed McNamara, the man to whom Duggan owes a lot of his political fortunes to. Duggan came to the political stage from the McNamara machine where he commanded tremendous influence, and even when he moved on to run the Detroit Medical Center, some lieutenants from that machine followed him.
Kevin McNamara sees Duggan as a man his father helped build his career, and will expect out of political loyalty that Duggan will return that favor with an endorsement. Loyalty has always been the cornerstone of politics. You hire people who will be loyal to you and have your back even in the most difficult circummstances. So Kevin will expect the bond that existed between his father and Duggan to now transfer to him as he seeks the job that his father once occupied that made him the most powerful Democrat in Michigan before he died.
“The mayor is like an adopted brother to Kevin McNamara,” is how Foster put it, underscoring the relationship.
But Duggan could decide not to do so. It is a different time and era now. Also, the McNamara machine brought with it political patronage, pay to play and corruption, even though Duggan was never under investigaton or charged with any wrongdoing. The administration of Robert Ficano is losing because of a federal investigation into public malfeasance, and it is not in the interest of any candidate to dangle the McNamara machine as an example of political purity, transparency and acccountability. If anything, any serious candidate will run away from the ghost of the McNamara machine. It is a new day.
Kevin can make the case about why he thinks he’s competent beyond looking at the seat as his father’s former chair. But he’ll have to walk a fine line between telling voters what he can do and political guilt by association. His opponents will make him answer for some of the sins of the McNamara machine his father led.
Another issue for Duggan is Phil Cavanagh, a candidate who, according to Foster, also has close family ties to the mayor.
“Cavanagh has a close relationship with Duggan and the families are close,” Foster said. “There is history and relationships that overwhelm other considerations.”
If Duggan were to support Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, it will not only make for great narrative but also show a stark example of political reconciliation, affirming that both former mayoral candidates have risen above the chasms of their campaign rhetoric.
It is not unsual in politics for opponents to endorse each other down the line but in the case of Napoleon, if he were to run and gets the endorsement of Duggan, it will make a significant statement.
“It is not politically prudent to support Napoleon because he can’t win,” Foster said.
Westland Mayor Bill Wild, stands to be the wild card in the race. He has been canvassing a lot of stakeholder meetings, interfacing with business and political leaders whose support will be cruical in the county race. His close relationship to Bill Ford Jr. chairman of Ford Motor Company, is no surprise and that has catapulted him to the center of the business club in metro Detroit.
In fact, Ford had a rare political breakfast fundraiser for Wild March 28 at the Ford Performing Arts Center in Dearborn where 3000 invitations were mailed out. The tickets to that fundraiser were $250 each and the VIP reception was $500. Having the support of Ford is not a negative for Wild and could redefine his campaign because if he shows he can raise more money than the rest of the candidates, the race will be his to lose.
Another question is whether Duggan will instead endorse Wild who is becoming an early favorite in some business circles because of his outreach, the same road that Duggan traveled when he was running for mayor.
If metro Detroit’s business community and political heavyweights get behind Wild, it will be hard for the mayor to go against that because that was also part of his financial support base when he ran against Napoleon. The mayor also has the option to stay out of the race entirely.
Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle. Email bthompson @michronicle.com.