State House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) has formed an exploratory committee to run for mayor of Detroit next year.

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He joins a growing list of declared or potential candidates that also includes City Council President Mary Sheffield, Councilman Fred Durhal III, and former councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins.

Tate was reelected to the House last month, but will turn the speaker’s gavel over to Republican Matt Hall in January. Mayor Mike Duggan announced last month that he will not seek a fourth term. An announcement on his possible political future is expected in the near future. 

“We are going to see [other] talent emerge, and I don’t have a favorite candidate. I don’t have somebody that I picked out. I’m going to be like the other Detroiters,” Duggan said in a live streamed announcement last month. “I’m going to watch these candidates emerge and see who the right leader is. Somebody who will continue to bring us together.”

Detroit’s mayoral election is scheduled for November 2025.

Other headlines for Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024:

• Some Michigan lawmakers are trying to get a bill package aimed at water affordability passed before the end of the year.
• State lawmakers have just a few weeks if they want to stop or change a law that will increase the minimum wage for tipped workers.
• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a comprehensive plan to reduce new HIV infections in the state by 90% by 2030, and advance health equity.

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