Sheffield dominates Detroit mayoral primary and will face Kinloch in general election

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield and Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. will square off in the general election for mayor of Detroit after becoming the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary.

Sheffield, who has built a progressive record as council president, dominated the nine-candidate field, receiving 50.8% of the votes, while Kinloch garnered 17.4%.

Nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins finished third with 16% of the votes, followed by attorney Todd Perkins at 5.4%, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig at 5.2%, and City Councilman Fred Durhal III at 3.4%.

Activist DaNetta Simpson, former businessman Joe Haashiim, and entrepreneur Danetta Lynese Simpson rounded out the bottom three, each receiving less than 1%.

If elected in November’s general election, Sheffield would become the first woman to serve as mayor since Detroit was incorporated in 1802.

At 26, Sheffield was first elected to city council in 2013. She has served as the council’s president since 2022. In her 12 years on the council, Sheffield has become a leading advocate for affordable housing, tenants rights, neighborhood development, property tax reform, and a clean environment. As council president, she has been a vocal critic of inequitable investment strategies, calling for a shift away from tax incentives for downtown developers and toward policies that directly benefit Detroit’s most vulnerable residents.

Kinloch, senior pastor of Triumph Church and graduate of Detroit’s Northwestern High School, portrays himself as a political outsider committed to addressing the decades-long inequalities in the city’s neighborhoods, arguing that Detroit’s economic comeback has left too many residents behind.

Kinloch’s platform includes building 10,000 affordable housing units, expanding workforce training, reducing poverty, and improving basic city services like trash pickup and emergency response. He has also pledged to bring more grocery stores to underserved areas. Raised in poverty and once a factory worker, Kinloch founded Triumph Church with a few dozen members and built it into one of the largest churches in the state, with campuses from Detroit to Genesee County.

Kinloch, who moved from the suburbs to Detroit about a year ago, has his work cut out for himself. In late July, Fox 2 Detroit revealed that he was convicted of beating his then-wife in 1993. According to court and police records, he hurled a glass at her, brandished a knife, and struck her in the back of the head with the weapon’s handle. Police found her bleeding from a cut on her hand and unable to walk because of her injuries.

Third-term Mayor Mike Duggan is running for governor as an independent.

Also on Tuesday, five city council seats were up for grabs. The races included both at-large seats, which represent the entire city, District 2 in the northernmost part of the city, District 5 just south of Hamtramck and Highland Park, and District 7 on the city’s west side.

Incumbents Mary Waters and Coleman Young II dominated the field of eight candidates in their bid to retain their at-large seats, each receiving nearly a third of the vote. Former City Councilwoman Janee’ L. Ayers and Detroit Fire Department community relations chief James Harris placed third and fourth, garnering 13.8% and 7.3% of the votes, respectively, and will advance to the general election.

In the District 2 race, incumbent Angela Whitfield Calloway placed first with 44.6% of the vote, followed by former District 2 Councilman Roy McCalister Jr. with 29.9%. Both candidates will advance to the general election.

For the District 5 seat, which Sheffield held, seven candidates faced off. The top two vote-getters were UAW retiree and founding member of the Detroit Historic Districts Alliance Renata Miller with 23.2% of the vote, and Detroit Police Commissioner Willie Burton with 19.4%. Both candidates move on to the general election.

In the District 7 race, four candidates were vying to replace Durhal, who ran for mayor. Progress Michigan Managing Director Denzel McCampbell narrowly finished first with 34.5% of the vote, followed by state Rep. Karen Whitsett with 33.9% of the vote. McCampbell and Whitsett will face off in the general election.