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In the Nov. 4 general election, Detroiters will elect or return candidates to the Detroit City Council in races for two at-large and five district seats.
- The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board endorsed candidates in competitive contests for two at-large seats as well as Districts 2 and 7 ahead of the August primary. Our choices in those races haven't changed; we're republishing those recommendations below.
- We're endorsing for the first time in Districts 3 and 6; those districts did not have competitive primaries.
- Our District 5 primary pick did not advance, and we are endorsing a new candidate.
- Incumbents in Districts 1 and 4, James Tate and Latisha Johnson, respectively, are running unopposed.
At-large - District 2 - District 3 - District 5 - District 6 - District 7
Four candidates are competing for two at-large seats on the Detroit City Council: incumbent Councilmembers Mary Waters and Coleman Young II, Janeé Ayers and James Harris. The top two vote-getters will win an at-large seat.
There are few political evolutions more admirable than that of Coleman Young II.
Young, 42, the son of legendary Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, gained a reputation for affability and capability as a state lawmaker before mounting a poorly considered 2017 challenge to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, running a pugnacious campaign that was a strange fit for a lawmaker as capable and approachable as Young.
In 2021, Young won an at-large seat on the Detroit City Council and, in the past four years, has expanded the skills that served him well in the state Legislature.
Young points to his work on the city’s JumpStart job training program and securing $1 million for a mental health response hotline as particular points of pride, and says that in a second term, he’ll focus on bringing down property tax for Detroit homeowners and continued funding for Community Violence Intervention programs that have had remarkable results in six pilot neighborhoods.
The focus of his tenure on council, and the work he hopes to do, show a deep understanding of Detroiters’ needs. Voters should return COLEMAN YOUNG II to the Detroit City Council.
Four years ago, Detroit City Councilwoman Janeé Ayers was widely expected to win re-election to the at-large seat she’d held since 2014, when the council selected her to replace former Detroit Council President Saunteel Jenkins. Jenkins, a mayoral candidate this year, stepped down to become CEO of The Heat and Warmth Fund. Ayers won a 2016 special election for the remainder of that term and re-election to a full term in 2017, both by wide margins.
Well-liked and capable, Ayers seemed virtually assured an easy 2021 victory.
But that August, the FBI conducted a raid of her home and office as part of a wide-ranging probe into public corruption, along with the home and office of District 4 Councilman Scott Benson and both council members’ chiefs of staff.
For those who had followed Ayers’ career, it was a shocking development.
The FBI offered few details about its investigation, leaving Detroit voters in a bind. Surely, many reasoned, law enforcement wouldn’t take such a dramatic step unless there was credible evidence against Ayers.
That November, Ayers lost her seat to former state lawmaker Mary Waters, who won by around 2,600 votes. (Waters, ironically, pleaded guilty to a public corruption-related misdemeanor in 2010.)
But neither Ayers nor her chief of staff were ever charged. And this January, the FBI quietly closed its probe, without explanation or any accusation of wrongdoing.
(Neither Benson nor his chief of staff were charged. Benson won re-election that year.)
"I came out of this a better person,” Ayers, 43, said in an endorsement interview this week. “Much stronger, much wiser. If I didn't think that I really understood Detroiters before, I totally understand now. The whole concept of being counted out, not represented, feeling like an outcast ― all of those things, and then to still be able to pick yourself up and understand that you have a greater mission ― I get it now. So, I'm actually thankful for everything that's happened over the last 3 1/2 years.”
Ayers wants back on council, she said, because "I know what our people have gone through. I know what they deserve. I know what they've seen happen, and, quite honestly, it’s a matter of sustaining what we have now.”
Over the course of the interview, Ayers displayed a remarkable knowledge of Detroit city government and the rough road ahead: the need for thoughtful financial discipline and to retain experienced police officers ― too many of whom, she said, are en route to early retirement ― expanding investments in both downtown and the neighborhoods, and smoothing the path for small business. She's eager to continue the work she began, such as leading the Returning Citizens Task Force she founded and stewarded through its early years.
Waters has served capably on the council, and has a genuine compassion for her constituents, leading meetings on housing that have had real impact.
But Ayers should have retained her seat on council, continuing the dedicated public service that made her a valued member of that body. Now, voters have the opportunity to return JANEÉ AYERS to office, and they ought to take it.
Two candidates ― former Councilman Roy McCalister Jr. and incumbent Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway — are facing off to represent District 2.
Detroit’s District 2 includes the eastern half of northwest Detroit, and encompasses some of the most politically engaged neighborhoods in the city, including Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, the University District and Green Acres.
Its residents demand accessibility and transparency. Former Councilman ROY McCALISTER Jr. provided that level of representation when he served from 2018 through 2021, and deserves the seat back.
McCalister, 71, was unseated by current District 2 Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway in the 2021 general election, 9,970 votes to 8,034.
McCalister, a retired Detroit detective, served 26 years in the police department, and 23 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves. He served as a regional commander in the Iraq War and as a commanding officer of Detroit Police Department's Homicide Section.
His reasoned views on the question of police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officers is indicative of his deep familiarity with the intricacies of police-community relations and managing city resources:
“If we start working with them, then that takes away from people feeling comfortable. It takes away from people coming forward. It (results in) people feeling that police are not really for the community,” McCalister told the Free Press Editorial Board in an endorsement interview.
“The Detroit Police Department is for the community and the public service of the community, not to go out looking for people who are allegedly undocumented. It also takes away from the police force that we have, because now we’re sending services over to an entity that has plenty of personnel.”
McCalister is eager to bring his maturity and experience back to council, and hopes to revisit some ambitious ideas he wasn’t able to fully explore before leaving office, like establishing a medical student exchange program with Cuba, and proposing a 10% tax on bottled water sold in the city to help pay for infrastructure needs.
McCalister views the role of councilman as a liaison between residents and city government. He’s been willing to push back on mayoral initiatives when he didn’t believe they aligned with residents’ needs, providing a firm but reasonable counterbalance to mayoral authority.
He is the best-positioned candidate in the field to represent District 2 during a time of significant uncertainty.
Whitfield-Calloway is the sitting District 2 councilwoman. She’s a former adult education instructor and human resources administrator. Whitfield-Calloway declined to respond to the voter guide questionnaire the Detroit Free Press distributed to every candidate in each contested council race, and did not respond to our attempts to schedule an endorsement interview.
Cranstana Anderson is challenging incumbent Councilman Scott Benson for the District 3 seat.
On Aug. 3, the Free Press published a piece about Detroiters in neighborhoods with low voter turnout ― residents who believe that because their neighborhoods don't turn out, elected officials pay them little mind. That afternoon, one staffer got a text from a man he had interviewed ― a picture from the man's doorbell camera of a well-known face.
"I thought I knew his mother, and I was pretty sure I'd met him," District 4 Councilman Scott Benson, 56, said in an endorsement interview last month. The mother, he said, had been to a city wills and estate planning workshop series he's championed. "I said, 'Wait a minute, am I not doing my job?' ... We were able to reconnect, and I got a chance to talk to his mother. ... She's like, 'Yes, you know him!' ... And so I felt relieved that yes, I still am doing my job, I do know my constituents."
A 20-year military veteran who served as director of small business development for Midtown Inc. before winning a seat on the council, Benson has put his formidable skills to use in service of District 4 residents. During his 12 years on council, Benson has focused on crucial issues with diligence and intentionality, ringing the alarm on the proliferation of marijuana use among K-12 students, promoting an ordinance that would allow police to strip guns from the hands of anyone convicted of domestic violence.
But he said he's most proud that this council has grown the city's general fund, and of bringing resources back to District 3, such as investment at City Airport, including a new terminal, a deal with Detroit Public Schools Community District to restart the high school and a new facility for helicopter tours.
Benson missed his mark with his first stab at the Dine With Confidence ordinance that requires Detroit restaurants to prominently display a health department rating. When he initially proposed it, restaurants pushed back — hard. Over the next three years, he and his staff worked with restaurateurs to get buy-in for the program, and it passed. "I learned it takes more sometimes to get good policy through," he said.
Benson said he believes there's meaningful work to be done, on poverty, crime, affordable housing and growing the middle class, among others.
Detroiters should return Benson to the Detroit City Council for a fourth term.
Anderson didn't return the Free Press voter guide questionnaire or respond to our attempts to schedule an endorsement interview.
Two candidates ― Police Commissioner Willie Burton and Renata Miller ― are competing for the open District 5 seat, held since 2014 by Council President Mary Sheffield, who is running for mayor. The full version of this endorsement was previously published online.
District 5 residents face an unenviable choice: Elect Detroit Police Commissioner Willie Burton, 46, best known for his antics as a member of that board, or Indian Village resident and Chrysler retiree Renata Miller, 57, whose record we’ll politely describe as “troubled.”
Sprawling District 5 spans Detroit’s east and west sides, a span of neighborhoods like Indian Village, Boston Edison, Dexter-Linwood and Pingree Park, half of downtown and parts of Midtown. The seat has been held since 2014 by Mary Sheffield, now the frontrunner in this year's mayoral race.
In the District 5 August primary, the Free Press Editorial Board endorsed Esther Haugabook, an expert in real estate and housing policy who has worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Her work experience and professional demeanor would’ve served District 5 well.
But Haugabook, a political newcomer, finished 194 votes behind Burton, and did not advance.
Of the two remaining candidates, we believe WILLIE BURTON is better qualified for a seat on the Detroit City Council.
As a member of Detroit’s police civilian oversight board, Burton has been a rabble-rouser, regularly clashing with the board’s chair and other members, culminating in a 2019 arrest during a board meeting. Burton was placed in handcuffs and led out of the room, but ultimately was not charged. During the pandemic, when the board routinely met via Zoom, Burton’s disruptive interjections led the board’s former chairman to mute Burton’s microphone, on multiple occasions.
But an assessment of Burton’s disruptive behavior must be tempered by the causes he's championed. At the time of that 2019 meeting, Burton had been working to expose the Detroit Police Department’s use of facial recognition technology, and he'd been a staunch advocate for policy controls around the use of the unreliable technology, which has a high rate of misidentifying Black and brown faces ― and he was successful. The board adopted an ordinance to regulate the use of facial recognition, and DPD changed its internal policies.
His instincts are often sound, even when his approach leaves something to be desired.
He has experienced housing struggles: In 2019, a court ordered his eviction from Lafayette Towers for nonpayment of rent.
Burton said his time on the commission has taught him the value of working collaboratively.
If elected to council, Burton must continue to exercise the discipline he’s exhibited in recent years, focusing on solving problems, not creating them.
Miller, his opponent, was the top vote getter in the August primary, and has been endorsed by Detroit City Councilmembers Mary Waters and Scott Benson, AFSCME Michigan Council 25, UAW Region 1 and 1A, The Original Eastside Slate, The Black Slate, the Michigan Regional Carpenters & Millwrights and LiUNA Laborers Local Union 1191. At the last campaign finance filing deadline, Miller had raised $13,660, compared to Burton’s $3,475.
Yet Miller’s record is dotted with mishaps that leave us with serious questions, from repeated tax delinquencies to a domestic violence conviction to a series of homophobic Facebook posts identifying LGBTQ+ identity as evidence of the devil’s hand at work and celebrating conversion therapy.
We explored Miller's record in detail in a separate piece.
Financial or legal troubles aren’t inherently disqualifying for public office, but it’s hard to get past the sheer volume in Miller’s record.
Burton is a better fit for the Detroit City Council.
State Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, is challenging incumbent District 6 Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero for the District 6 seat.
Gabriela Santiago-Romero won the District 6 council seat in 2021, when Raquel Castenada Lopez, elected in 2013 when Detroit went from citywide seats to council-by-district, opted not to seek re-election.
With a background in social work and activism, Santiago-Romero, 33, comes from the same tradition of service as Castenada Lopez, state Sen. Stephanie Chang and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, all with reputations for outstanding constituent services.
Santiago-Romero said her team has resolved more than a thousand constituent cases in the last four years, the lion’s share related to quality of life issues.
“We are very intentional about making sure that we build relationships across the district. I have a policy team, and a community team that goes out every summer,” she said. “We do wellness checks. We go around the district. We ask folks how they're doing. We have office hours throughout the districts. We try to be at every corner every month. … For me, it's about staying connected, because as things come up, then we are able to be called on and to go help.”
She’s worked to formalize the relationship between her office and District 6 block clubs to ensure emergency services and resources go where they’re needed. Santiago-Romero has checked the use of public dollars for police surveillance technology, directing resources instead into people-centered programs like the Community Violence Intervention work that’s dramatically reduced violent crime in six pilot neighborhoods. And over the last four years, Santiago-Romero said, she’s better learned how to navigate city hall: “At the end of the day, it's not about me. It's about my constituents, and making sure that the work is moving forward.”
Santiago-Romero is cognizant of being a Hispanic elected official in a racially diverse district, encompassing Hispanic and Black Detroiters along with growing white and Arab American populations.
“I very much see myself as a bridge. … We have historically Black neighborhoods that very much want Black representation who do not believe if you are other than Black, you care about Black folks. And then vice versa – we have Latinos who are like, Black people don't care about us,” she said.
Santiago-Romero described an event her team held two years ago to bring the district's Hispanic and Black residents together, saying it was a "space for Black and brown communities to talk about our differences and our feelings. We talked about solidarity … did a little history lesson. We also did a English and Spanish lesson. … All the kids were here, and it was so cute. It was so nice seeing people with their families, like, ‘Hey, they have huge families. We have huge families!’”
Santiago-Romero’s feet are firmly planted in community interests, but she’s able to work with big business ― although she doesn’t take corporate political action committee checks.
“I will ask a person to put their name behind their donation. I think that's important to know,” she said.
This is state Rep. Tyrone Carter’s third run for the District 6 seat. He lost to Castenada-Lopez in 2013 and 2017. Carter, 62, is a skilled and dynamic legislator, a lifelong resident who cares deeply about Detroit and Detroiters. But Santiago-Romero has served ably in the District 6 seat, and with four years of service under her belt, she’s just hitting her stride. It would be a mistake to replace her.
Two candidates ― Denzel McCampbell and Karen Whitsett ― are competing for this open seat, held since 2022 by Councilman Fred Durhal, who mounted an unsuccessful mayoral bid instead of seeking re-election.
Detroit’s District 7 includes a large, diverse swath of the city’s west side, and needs a strong, versatile representative to replace Councilman Fred Durhal, who ran for mayor.
With a uniquely holistic approach to problem solving, DENZEL McCAMPBELL is the candidate best suited to take up the District 7 mantle and contribute to progress citywide.
He'll face Karen Whitsett, a state lawmaker with a spotty record of service. The Detroit News recently reported that Whitsett showed up in Lansing for just 23% of this year's legislative session days. Whitsett told the newspaper that she considers regular attendance unnecessary, and that legislative sessions do not often justify the cost of daycare for her dog. Whitsett has also made headlines for her friendly relationship with President Donald Trump.
Whitsett did not return the Free Press' candidate questionnaire, and did not respond to repeated attempts to schedule an endorsement interview.
A public policy professional who helps lead Progress Michigan, McCampbell, 33, has served as a Detroit charter revision commissioner and a congressional aide to U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
McCampbell told the Free Press Editorial Board the recent, statistically validated successes of Community Violence Intervention groups in Detroit point to the effectiveness of wholeheartedly and proactively tackling underlying causes of Detroit’s most serious problems.
“I think we have to have that view as we’re looking at every aspect of city services,” he said.
CVI groups offer resources like temporary housing, transportation, training, mental health care and other forms of life-altering, face-to-face, personal intervention in the lives of youths identified as vulnerable to dangerous pathways.
McCampbell said it's exactly the kind of hard work he wants to support in District 7 and across the city.
"We’ve seen the benefit of addressing the root cause. We’ve seen the benefit of investing resources in it and it should be a priority," he said.
McCampbell also has a direct and realistic plan for improving the city’s dismal voter turnout tendencies. He hopes to recruit a “civic education corps” of block club and community group members to go door-to-door, foster engagement and “build up that political education muscle.”
He has a strong sense of the importance of aligning the needs of businesses and neighborhoods in economic development strategy, and a clear passion for centering Detroiters in policy discussions.
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