Detroit General Election of 2013 Thread

[LMich]

With a general election of the Detroit city council and mayor's office coming up, over-shadowed by the imminent specter of a state emergency manager, Southeast Michigan is yet again at a historic political crossroads. This thread is basically a place to talk about the general political comings-and-goings in Southeast Michigan in what's shaping up to be a very interesting year. It's really also to head off such talk in the existing city compilations development thread or some random thread in city discussions. Be respectful and thoughtful.

Now, to start...

Duggan beats Napoleon, Bing in early poll of mayoral votes

Gary Heinlein | The Detroit News

March 5, 2013

Former Detroit Medical Center chief executive Mike Duggan has a significant early lead in his bid to become Detroit's first white mayor in four decades, according to a poll released exclusively Monday to The Detroit News and WDIV-TV.

Duggan is ahead of his nearest rival, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, by a 2-to-1 margin if the potential seven-candidate primary election were held today, the automated telephone survey of 581 likely voters by East Lansing-based Mitchell Research and Communications showed. Duggan had 38 percent of respondents, followed by Napoleon at 17 percent and incumbent Mayor Dave Bing at 8 percent in the Feb. 28 survey.

"This poll is really good news for Mike Duggan," pollster Steve Mitchell said. "However, the November election is eight months away, and Duggan is not above 50 percent" in the candidate scenarios the survey tested.

The primary will be held in August. Bing has yet to say if he intends to run for re-election. But Mitchell, who financed the poll himself, said Bing's candidacy may be in "great peril" based on the poll results.

Duggan also leads Napoleon in a head-to-head general election scenario, according to the poll, which has a 4 percentage point margin of error. Napoleon is exploring a run for mayor.

...

[hudkina]

I wonder how many people participating even knew who Mike Duggan is. He certainly hasn't been on the political landscape for all that long.

[LMich]

I think he's a bit better known than you think, and really all that matters is that he's probably about as well known as his nearest competitor. I can't remember the last time that time spent in local politics determined a mayoral election in Detroit. If that were the case, we'd be talking about Mayor Gill Hill and Mayor Kenneth Cockrel. Mike has been in positions of power in the area long enough for people to know who they are choosing. Doesn't hurt that he met with more potential voters in the city, personally, than any of the other candidates and the race hasn't even started in earnest, yet. Anyway, doesn't surprise me Benny and Mike are in the lead, both are creatures of Wayne County, and the voters know that, for better or for worse.

Aside from the mayoral race, I'm interested to see how much the likely appointment of an emergency manager will dampen turnout in the city council elections, and it's really a shame, since it'll be the first election of council by district since the 20s. I'm trying to imagine who would even want to run in a situation like this. As imcumbents go, I think Pugh and Kenyatta area already out; Gary Brown seems to have indicated the other day that he may not run. I've got to find that map showing which incumbents will be pitted against each other.

[Cleveland Brown]

Let's be honest, Mike Duggan will be the next mayor of Detroit. He was well ahead of the other in laying the ground for his campaign and he has already gained the support of several business and community leaders - both black and white. However, whatever power the office of mayor may have under an emergency manager will be unknown. Outside of Napolean and Duggan the other candidates don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of the primary. Although the two top candidates are both Wayne County Machine insiders, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing.

Bing came into office as a complete political novice -- and it shows. Mayor Bing has been unable to parlay his business experience to identify and fix the problems with Detroit's dysfunctional bureaucracy. And he has proven inept in either co-opting his political rivals or making them powerless, if anything his dilatory approach to governing has empowered them. Frankly, he has shown to be a nice guy who doesn't know how to govern in the much that is Detroit politics. Hopefully the machine candidates will use their political skills for the greater good of the city without the tendency to reward incompetent friends with government money (e.g. Kwame Kilpatrick).

On a side note, I would actually like to see Mr. "let Detroit go bankrupt" run for mayor. Despite disliking him for national office, and even personally, he probably would be a great mayor who could use his connections and national spotlight to fix Detroit's core problems -- crime, the lack of private sector jobs, and a decimated tax base.

[hudkina]

Romney would never run for mayor of Detroit. It would be like the CFO, having been turned down for the CEO position, deciding to go work in the mail room.

And I highly doubt Snyder would truly consider him for running the city as an EM, and even if Snyder did consider him, I doubt Romney would accept such an offer.

Granted, it will be interesting to see who Snyder picks. Will he pick someone from politics? Someone with a business background? Someone from out of state? Someone from the city itself?

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown

Let's be honest, Mike Duggan will be the next mayor of Detroit. He was well ahead of the other in laying the ground for his campaign and he has already gained the support of several business and community leaders - both black and white. However, whatever power the office of mayor may have under an emergency manager will be unknown. Outside of Napolean and Duggan the other candidates don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of making it out of the primary. Although the two top candidates are both Wayne County Machine insiders, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing.

Bing came into office as a complete political novice -- and it shows. Mayor Bing has been unable to parlay his business experience to identify and fix the problems with Detroit's dysfunctional bureaucracy. And he has proven inept in either co-opting his political rivals or making them powerless, if anything his dilatory approach to governing has empowered them. Frankly, he has shown to be a nice guy who doesn't know how to govern in the much that is Detroit politics. Hopefully the machine candidates will use their political skills for the greater good of the city without the tendency to reward incompetent friends with government money (e.g. Kwame Kilpatrick).

On a side note, I would actually like to see Mr. "let Detroit go bankrupt" run for mayor. Despite disliking him for national office, and even personally, he probably would be a great mayor who could use his connections and national spotlight to fix Detroit's core problems -- crime, the lack of private sector jobs, and a decimated tax base.

Mitt Romney for EM is such an improbability, and such a horrible, terrible, no-good idea, I wouldn't even begin to know where to start, so I won't.

Yeah, it seems pretty obvious to me that barring some scandal, Mike's going to win this thing. Benny started out of the gate wrong, and I think he's lost touch with just how much politics in the city have chaged post-Kilpatrick. The whole "I'm black, I live here, you know me, you voted for me before" politics expecting a win without having do do crap is over. Minus the race issue, they tried the same thing against Bing (a suburban carpetbagger if there ever was one) in his two elections, and it didn't work. Detroiters simply don't care, anymore. The poorest kept secret in all of Detroit in 2009 was that Bing didn't actually live in the city. Even after he rented out his place in Shoreline East, he was still driving home to Franklin, most nights, until he moved into the Manoogian near the end of 2010.

But, as you said, what exactly are you winning? I'm not even convinced the new EM is even going to keep the mayor's office and city council, particularly if the deposed city government takes him or her to court, which seems likely. And, I'm almost not even sure if there will be much to discuss after November, as it seems more likely than not that Detroit will be put into some type of structured recievership before all is said and done.

[LMich]

Well, last night was quite an eventful night in Detroit politics with a lot of "firsts".

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.

...

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.

[Chicago103]

It's interesting that Detroit reached the point where elections of non-blacks can be seen as a form of racial progress/equality. It shows that a post-racial atmosphere is starting to take place in Detroit which is a good thing, hopefully they will be able to revitalize the city.

[Cleveland Brown]

Originally Posted by LMich

Well, last night was quite an eventful night in Detroit politics with a lot of "firsts".

Thankfully only around 20% of eligible voters went to the polls. I looked at video and photos of Napoleon's party and noted that he was supported by many Detroit political "has beens" who have been constrained by state house/senate term-limits. I'm sure that they were Benny supporters for the sole reason of seeking a lucrative political appointment.

Napoleon ran a pathetic and unprofessional campaign. He nor his running mate Crittenden were unable to answer basic media questions or stumbled badly in their response. Like the Chicago mayoral elections, Detroit voters showed that issues and competence matters more than familiarity. Napoleon was a mediocre police chief who led the department so badly that his tenure ended with the Feds overseeing police operations. And he has been a lackluster sheriff with a top-heavy administration. Most Detroiters who care, are informed, or have skin in the game, thankfully, saw through all of his cheap tricks and through those who gave him self-interested endorsements.

[Cleveland Brown]

Originally Posted by Chicago103

It's interesting that Detroit reached the point where elections of non-blacks can be seen as a form of racial progress/equality. It shows that a post-racial atmosphere is starting to take place in Detroit which is a good thing, hopefully they will be able to revitalize the city.

I do not believe the election was about race, but solely competence. A politician with links to a corrupt political machine, but had success leading government and turning around a failing private hospital defeated a lackluster career cop/politician whose only notable accomplishment is that he rose through the ranks of the incompetent/scandal filled Detroit Police Department and was initially appointed Wayne County Sheriff by the governor. Detroit voters wisely decided that the patient needed to go to a doctor (good or mediocre we shall see) versus a thorough search on WebMD.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown

Thankfully only around 20% of eligible voters went to the polls.

"Official" turnout was 25.4%, and that was actually one of the higher turnouts for a major city in the country on Tuesday. It was higher than turnout for the highly-covered New York mayoral race, as well as higher than turnout in places like Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, Houston...

BTW, I make note of "official" turnout, because it was likely much higher than that as turnout uses official registered voter rolls, which are extremely bloated in Detroit because of the exodus and the difficulty in removing people who've moved off the voter rolls.

I guess you could say that turnout is low in general for mayoral races, but Detroit tends to have high turnout relative to other large cities.

[LMich]

A more detailed look at the new council. Along with its first, this will also be one of the youngest councils in decades. Glad to see Scott Benson get in; he's got an urban planning degree which should serve the redevelopment of his district and the city well.

Newly elected Detroit council members look ahead

by Joe Guillen | Detroit Free Press

November 7, 2013

...

On Wednesday, the new members began crafting their strategy to connect with residents. The new council structure, with seven district representatives and two at-large members, replaces a system in which all nine members were elected at-large to represent the whole city.

Scott Benson, who will represent the city’s east side in District 3, said he is already negotiating lease terms for a council office in his district at the Matrix Center.

...

Across the border in Dearborn, another ethnic sea change was taking place:

Haidar Bazzi of Renne Flowers delivers a bouquet to Susan Dabaja at her office Wednesday as well-wishers congratulated her for winning a seat on the Dearborn City Council. Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press

Arab Americans win majority on Dearborn City Council

By Niraj Warikoo | Detroit Free Press

November 7, 2013

Come January, Arab Americans will make up a majority of the Dearborn City Council for the first time in history, a symbolic step reflecting the growth of the Arab-American community and its political power in a city with a history of racial and ethnic tensions.

Four of the people on Dearborn’s seven-member council will be of Arab descent in a city that is more than 40% Arab American.

And the top vote-getter among all of the 14 candidates who ran for seven seats was newcomer Susan Dabaja, an Arab-American Muslim who works as an attorney; she will be the council president. The 36-year-old mother of three told the Free Press she is the first Arab-American council president in the city’s history. She also will be the only woman on the council.

...

O’Reilly said the fact that Arab Americans are succeeding politically in Dearborn shows that it’s not “us and them, but it’s one community.”

“We’re all in this together,” O’Reilly said.

Previous mayors were not always as welcoming. Orville Hubbard, mayor of Dearborn in 1942-78, was known nationally for his segregationist views and once said the “Syrians (a term once used to describe all Arab Americans) are worse than the (racial slur for African Americans),” according to the 1989 book “Orvie: The Dictator of Dearborn.”

And the previous mayor, the late Michael Guido, won election in 1985 by attacking Arab Americans. He mailed out a pamphlet to voters complaining about what he called “the Arab problem” and said their leaders had a “gimme, gimme, gimme attitude.”

The campaign literature worked, propelling Guido into City Hall, where he served from 1986 until his death in 2005.

Such rhetoric would be unthinkable today.

...