Democrat Mary Sheffield, Detroit’s City Council president, won the city’s mayoral primary in a landslide Tuesday night.
She was the top vote-getter of nine candidates and will advance to the November general election against the second-place winner. Solomon Kinloch Jr. sat in second place, and Saunteel Jenkins in third as of 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
Sheffield, the favorite to win the primary, is running to replace three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor of Michigan.
“In Detroit, I believe that our best days are ahead of us,” Sheffield said at her campaign watch party. “The victory tonight is not mine. It is ours. It belongs to every little boy and girl in this city who was told to dream small. It belongs to every neighborhood in this city that has felt left behind.”
“I am grateful for this entire movement that we’ve been able to build, to our coalitions, to our union leaders, to our faith leaders, all of you, all who have supported me, I say thank you,” she concluded.
The other two top vote-getters, Kinloch and Jenkins, are vying to face Sheffield in November.
Kinloch is a reverend and senior pastor at Triumph Church, while Jenkins is a former Detroit City Council member elected in 2009 who served one four-year term. Both are Democrats.
The only Republican in the race, James Craig, drew less than 10% of the vote and will likely not advance.
ANTI-ISRAEL MUSLIM SENATE CANDIDATE TIES CAMPAIGN TO SOCIALIST MAMDANI
Sheffield is expected to be a heavy favorite in November and will be the city’s first female mayor if elected.
If she takes office, she will lead a city that saw growth under Duggan after filing for bankruptcy in 2013. Since then, the city has had 12 consecutive years of balanced budgets, held the NFL Draft in 2024, and built hundreds of affordable housing units.