Voters in Detroit elected Mike Duggan as mayor of Detroit.
Duggan, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, campaigned hard in Detroit neighborhoods prior to the August 7th primary. He then made history after he won the primary as a write-in candidate after he was booted off the ballot on a technicality.
Duggan becomes the city's first white mayor since Roman Gribbs finished out his term in 1973.
The Detroit Free Press spoke to Detroit political analyst Steve Hood about Duggan's win in a city being run by an emergency manager:
Tuesday’s win “means he connected in African Americans in a huge way, but he’s got to go from message to reality,” Hood said. Duggan also will have to “figure out how to deal with Kevyn Orr, because if he’s not careful, he, too, could get a gas allowance and a corner office,” a reference to how Mayor Dave Bing was largely shunted aside after Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Orr the city’s emergency manager. One of Duggan’s top jobs, politically, will be to mend fences with union leaders and influential clergy who backed Napoleon, Hood said.
Duggan's opponent, Benny Napoleon, said his days in politics are not over during his concession speech. This Tweet came from Michigan Radio reporter Kate Wells who is covering Napoleon this evening:
Napoleon concedes, but "you'll see me again," he tells crowd. "One day, I'll ask you to stand with me again."
— Kate Wells (@KateLouiseWells) November 6, 2013
Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek is over at Mike Duggan's victory party. She sent this Tweet:
Duggan on the verge of losing his voice. "Good news is, this won't be a long speech."
— Sarah Cwiek (@sarahcwiek) November 6, 2013
We'll have more on Duggan and Napoleon later.
