City Council President Mary Sheffield wins election to become Detroit’s first female mayor

DETROIT (AP) — City Council President Mary Sheffield will be Detroit’s newest mayor and the first woman to lead the city.

Sheffield defeated popular megachurch pastor the Rev. Solomon Kinloch in Tuesday’s general election.

She will take office in January and succeed three-term Mayor Mike Duggan who announced last year that he would not seek reelection. Duggan is running for Michigan governor as an independent to replace term-limited Democrat Gretchen Whitmer.

Sheffield will inherit a city that continues to improve following Detroit’s 2014 exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Duggan was elected in 2013 and took office in January 2014. Under his watch, Detroit has dramatically improved city services, including shorter police response times, public lighting and blight elimination.

Detroit has had 12 consecutive years of balanced budgets and the city has been showing historically low violent crime numbers.

Its population also has grown following decades of losses. Earlier this year, the U.S. Census estimated Detroit’s population at 645,705 — a gain of 12,487 residents since a May 2024 estimate, according to the city.

The figure included nearly 6,800 new residents in 2024 and nearly 5,700 undercounted by the census in 2021-2023, Duggan’s office said.

Detroit’s population reached 1.8 million people in the 1950s.

Sheffield and Kinloch, both Democrats, advanced to Tuesday’s election after finishing with the most votes in the city’s non-partisan August primary. She received nearly 51% of the vote in the primary, compared to Kinloch who got just over 17%.

Sheffield first was elected to the City Council in 2013 at age 26 and has been council president since 2022. Her father, Horace Sheffield III, is an activist and pastor of New Destiny Christian Fellowship church.

Duggan endorsed her, calling Sheffield “the most qualified person, the best prepared to be the next mayor.”

Sheffield has said that focusing on educating Detroit’s children, and continuing to improve public safety and life in the neighborhoods will be among her priorities if elected mayor.

“My commitment, Detroit, is to build on the foundation that has been laid working with Mayor Duggan and our council ... by expanding opportunities, strengthening our neighborhoods and making sure that Detroit’s progress reaches every block and every family of this city,” Sheffield said alongside Duggan at a September campaign event.