When Mike Duggan was sworn in as Detroit’s mayor more than a decade ago, much of the city was in the dark. Four out of every 10 streetlights didn’t work. His administration rebuilt the grid and relit neighborhoods block by block.

Blight became another target. Crews tore down thousands of abandoned houses that posed safety risks. With hundreds of millions in federal relief, Duggan stabilized the budget and funded neighborhood programs. Meanwhile, the city’s violent crime rate eased: just over 200 homicides last year, the lowest number since the mid-1960s.

Other markers point to momentum. Detroit’s population has inched up for two years in a row — rare for a city that has seen decades of decline. Moody’s even restored Detroit’s investment-grade bond rating. 

Duggan highlights these milestones when he calls himself “a fixer.”

But Detroit’s recovery is uneven.

Roughly one in three residents lived in poverty last year — the highest rate since 2017. The city has yet to fully address an estimated $600 million in property-tax overassessments that forced many families from their homes.

Housing, overall, remains scarce. A city-commissioned study estimates Detroit needs more than 40,000 additional affordable rental homes for households earning under $25,000 a year — a 45,200-unit gap as of 2021.

The broader picture is mixed: while downtown investment is visible, many neighborhoods still face population loss and a lack of basic infrastructure.

Still, compared with the Detroit Duggan inherited in 2014, the city holds more promise today, and much of that transformation happened under his watch.

Now Duggan wants to take his record statewide. He’s running for governor of Michigan in 2026 as an independent — and asking voters across the state to buy into his version of Detroit’s turnaround.

The mayor joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how he thinks his strategies can scale statewide.

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More stories from The Metro

Black leaders in Detroit want a change in the city’s Congressional representation.

The U.S. House seat is currently held by businessman Shri Thanedar. State Representative Donavan McKinney is challenging him in the 2026 Democratic primary in the 13th District.

After Thanedar’s election in 2022, Detroit—the country’s largest majority-Black city —was left without representation by an African American.

Following redistricting, Congresswoman and native Detroiter Rashida Tlaib was elected to the 12th District.

The multi-millionaire Thanedar was able to win the Democratic primary in 2022 against eight opponents.

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans says narrowing the field will make things more difficult for Thanedar this time around.

“I’ve been advocating for at least four years for a change—an African American—to lead the 13th congressional district,” Evans said. “You have to connect with the communities that you serve. And the big problem we have now is that connection is not there.”

Thanedar refutes that he isn’t involved in his district and often highlights how much money came to the city during the Biden Administration.

Making what she calls a rare endorsement, former Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence is also advocating for voters to rally around McKinney.

“Why would I endorse against a sitting member of Congress? It breaks my heart that we, the people, have not seen our voices in the House,” Lawrence said. “We have not had someone who understands [us].”

“Of all the things that have been happening, have you heard from the person who’s sitting in that seat now? No. Do you have any confidence that when we’re fighting and we’re trying to push through this madness, that you have a fighter on your hands? Donavan is my fighter,” Lawrence said.

Affordability and accessibility

McKinney was elected to the state house as a progressive in 2022. In running for Congress, he has secured the endorsement of Tlaib and the rest of the Justice Democrats as well as Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

Lowering costs for working class people is the basis for his platform. That includes lowering car insurance and child care. McKinney is a father of three kids all under the age of four – including a newborn. He says he has a salary that’s twice the median for his district, and yet the costs are too high.

“We can only afford – off my state house salary – to put our oldest child into childcare,” McKinney said. “Childcare costs for us cost more than our mortgage. It is unbelievable.”

“If I’m struggling living paycheck to paycheck, just imagine what other folks across the district have to go through, day in and day out.”

In his own endorsement speech, Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist laid out why he thinks McKinney is the right person for the moment.

“[This moment] demands the leadership that harkens back to the progressive vision for Congress that has always emanated from the city of Detroit—when we first had a Black caucus,” Gilchrist said. “The vision for that came from a Black congressman from Detroit. There is something missing in Congress, not having black leadership from Detroit.”

“But the thing about a hole is we can fill it.”

In this episode

• The current state of the U.S. Senate Race in Michigan. 
• Reasons why state representative Joe Tate dropped out of the U.S. Senate Race. 
• Abdul El-Sayed makes his case for the open U.S. Senate seat. 

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben are joined by the former director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services, Abdul El-Sayed. He discusses why he’s running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat and what qualifies him for the role. 

Plus, now that State Representative Joe Tate has dropped out of the US Senate race, we explore how this affects the rest of the field. 

El-Sayed, who ran for governor in 2018, announced his run for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat this spring. El-Sayed spoke to the current state of politics and how he feels his party has not responded to the current administration’s actions properly.

“We’ve got a lot of talking heads in the party that people seem to respect because they did something back in the 90s who are telling us that we just need to roll over and play dead,” commented El-Sayed. “I’m so sorry, but democracy means too much to me, America means too much to me to be willing to roll over and play dead.” 

The other two major Democratic candidates are Mallory McMorrow, state senator, and Haley Stevens, U.S. representative. 

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers appears to be the sole candidate from his party running for the seat.

Kasben said the President seems to support Rogers’ uncontested run.

“Republican U.S. Senate leadership backed Mike Rogers out of the gate. And President Donald Trump has now endorsed him. And he essentially asked Huizenga not to run,” said Kasben. “So strategically, it appears the GOP has made the decision that avoiding a primary here gives them the best chance to win the seat.” 

The elections of the open US Senate seat will be held Nov. 3rd 2026.  

More from WDET:

• The Metro: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed enters US Senate race in Michigan
• MichMash: State Sen. Mallory McMorrow enters Michigan US Senate race
• MichMash: Preventing youth tobacco usage + more candidates eye Michigan US Senate Race