Duggan Gains Massive Primary Win, Will Face Young in General Election
Mike Duggan gets two-thirds of all votes cast in Detroit mayoral primary, faces Coleman Young II in November election.
The finalists are set in the race to become the mayor of Detroit.
Incumbent Mike Duggan enters the November general election following a resounding primary victory over his closest challenger, state Sen. Coleman Young II.
When he was elected four years ago Duggan became the first white mayor to lead Detroit’s majority African American population in four decades.
He won roughly two-thirds of all primary votes cast this time.
But Duggan says much work remains, noting the nation’s automotive capitol is still fighting high rates of poverty and unemployment.
“We spent the last four years just getting the street lights on and the buses running and the grass cut,” Duggan says. “And I know we can land businesses. Now we just have to get our residents to get the skills to take those jobs.”
Duggan will be challenged in the general election by Young, the son of Detroit’s legendary first-ever black mayor, who finished a distant second in the primary voting.
Young says investment is pouring into Detroit’s downtown, but Duggan is leaving the city’s overwhelmingly African American neighborhoods behind.
Some voters echo those concerns, saying they fear Detroit is becoming, in effect, “two cities.”
Shortly after his victory speech following the primary election, Duggan told WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter the magnitude of the win took him aback.
