Detroit Dem May­or Announces Run For Michi­gan Gov­er­nor As Inde­pen­dent

Detroit Demo­c­ra­t­ic May­or Mike Dug­gan, who has been in office since 2014, announced that he is run­ning for Michi­gan gov­er­nor as an inde­pen­dent in the 2026 elec­tion.

Dug­gan, 66, who has served decades in pub­lic office in Wayne Coun­ty and Detroit, told city employ­ees last week that he would not run for anoth­er term as may­or. He offi­cial­ly announced in a press release on Wednes­day that he is run­ning to replace Michi­gan Demo­c­ra­t­ic Gov. Gretchen Whit­mer, who is term-lim­it­ed after 2026, the Detroit Free Press report­ed. Dug­gan has been a Demo­c­rat for his entire polit­i­cal career but said he is run­ning as an inde­pen­dent because he wants to change “the cur­rent sys­tem [that] forces peo­ple to choose sides.”

“I’m not run­ning to be the Democ­rats’ gov­er­nor or the Repub­li­cans’ gov­er­nor. I’m run­ning to be your gov­er­nor,” Dug­gan said. “The polit­i­cal fight­ing and the non­sense that once held back Detroit is too often what we’re see­ing across Michi­gan today. The cur­rent sys­tem forces peo­ple to choose sides — not find solu­tions. It’s time to change that. I intend to bring togeth­er Democ­rats, Repub­li­cans and Inde­pen­dents — and our young peo­ple, far too many of whom have giv­en up on our polit­i­cal sys­tem — togeth­er to move Michi­gan for­ward.”

Whit­mer, who eas­i­ly won a sec­ond term in 2022, is a ris­ing nation­al fig­ure in the Demo­c­ra­t­ic Par­ty and is being float­ed as a poten­tial can­di­date for pres­i­dent in 2028.

Dug­gan has over­seen a city that has gone through a decades-long spell of vio­lence and decline. Ear­li­er this year, the city boast­ed of record­ing the low­est homi­cide rate since 1962, with 252 homi­cides report­ed in 2023. Accord­ing to the city, non-fatal shoot­ings and car­jack­ings also decreased in 2023.

Despite these recent drops in vio­lent crime, how­ev­er, Detroit remains one of the most dan­ger­ous places to live in the U.S. Accord­ing to 2022 data, Detroit ranked sec­ond, only behind Mem­phis, for the high­est vio­lent crime rate in the nation at 2,027.9 vio­lent crimes per 100,000 peo­ple.

Dug­gan tout­ed his record of lead­ing Detroit as the city came out of bank­rupt­cy in 2014.

“Detroit’s sto­ry of resur­gence is one of Detroi­ters who nev­er gave up on their city,” Dug­gan said last month when he announced he would not run for a fourth term as may­or. “It has been the hon­or of a life­time to serve as may­or over the past 12 years and I am incred­i­bly proud of what we’ve accom­plished together—from emerg­ing out of bank­rupt­cy to becom­ing a vibrant, healthy city that is a mod­el of resilience and trans­for­ma­tion.”

CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Democ­rats who have been dis­cussed as poten­tial Michi­gan guber­na­to­r­i­al can­di­dates include Sec­re­tary of State Joce­lyn Ben­son, Michi­gan Sen­ate Major­i­ty Whip Mal­lo­ry McMor­row, Gene­see Coun­ty Sher­iff Chris Swan­son, and for­mer Sec­re­tary of Trans­po­ra­tion Pete Buttigieg, who recent­ly moved to the Great Lakes State.

Numer­ous poten­tial con­tenders on the Repub­li­can side include Con­gress­woman Lisa McClain, Con­gress­man John James, Michi­gan Sen­ate Minor­i­ty Leader Aric Nes­bitt, and con­ser­v­a­tive com­men­ta­tor Tudor Dixon, who was the GOP guber­na­to­r­i­al nom­i­nee in 2022.