Well, last night was quite an eventful night in Detroit politics with a lot of "firsts".
Quote:
John T. Greilick / The Detroit News
Duggan: 'Now the real work begins'
By Mike Wilkinson, Darren A. Nichols and Steve Pardo
November 5, 2013
Detroit— Mike Duggan overcame questions about his outsider status to become Detroit’s first white mayor in about four decades, beating Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon on Tuesday in a campaign about who could best revitalize a failing city.
For Duggan, born in Detroit but who lived much of his life in the western Wayne County suburb of Livonia, it was a victory rooted in his turnaround persona that may also reflect a move away from decades of racial politics.
He will replace one-term Mayor Dave Bing in a city where 83 percent of the residents are black and in a region where racial divisions have strained city-suburb relations until recently.
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The revamped city council also produced a few firsts.
Raquel Castaneda-Lopez, 32, will be the first Hispanic American to serve on the city council. She's out of District 6, which is based in Southwest Detroit. She was campaign manager for state rep. Rashida Tlaib's run in 2008.
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Gabe Leland, 30, will be the first Jew to serve on council since Mel Ravitz left in 1998. He's out of District 7, which is on the westside basically south of the Jeffries. Gabe served in the state house, and he's the son of Burton Leland, a county commissioner who also served in the state house and state senate.
The Jewish News
The four incumbents who chose to run under the new council structure all were returned to council, two from districts and the two at-large seats. Of the four, only Brenda Jones has served more than one term. The new president will be chosen by the council in January as opposed to the top vote getter getting the spot under the previous all at-large structure. I expect that the current president, Saunteel Jenkins, will win it, again.
All and all, a lot of fresh-new faces a more geographically representative council than in many years.