Mike Duggan

Mike Duggan was elected Mayor of the City of Detroit on November 5, 2013, and re-elected to a second term on November 7, 2017. Duggan, born in Detroit, has spent his entire career working in the city to solve some of the most complex issues facing Detroiters, including crime, blight and access to jobs. In his first term, Mayor Duggan got to work restoring basic city services for all Detroiters. He established the Department of Neighborhoods, placing staff in each of the seven city council districts to help residents address concerns of blight in their community. He also returned financial accountability, working with City Council to pass three consecutive balanced budgets in FY2015, FY2016 and FY2017, which led to significant upgrades in the City’s bond rating. The mayor has continued to bring down blighted houses, laying out a plan to address all vacant structures over the next two years, whether through demolition, renovation or boarding them up in the interim. Duggan, who was born in Detroit, has remained committed to the city throughout his career. As a young boy, he lived on Stansbury near Fenkell and Schaefer on the city’s west side and attended Catholic Central High School when it was still in the city on W. Outer Drive. While most of his friends were leaving Michigan to attend college in places like New York and Chicago, Duggan was committed to staying in the Detroit area and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for his undergraduate studies and law school. Duggan’s first job out of college was at a law firm in downtown Detroit, to which he rode the bus to work every day until he could afford his first car. He later was hired to work in the Wayne County law department and before long was tapped to serve as Deputy Wayne County Executive under Ed McNamara from 1987 through 2000. As Wayne County Prosecutor from 2001-2003, Duggan led efforts to reduce gun crime and to address the problem of vacant homes across Detroit by seizing 1,000 abandoned homes and selling them to new owners who fixed them up and got them reoccupied. Before running for Mayor, Duggan again partnered with workers and unions to lead the Detroit Medical Center out of near bankruptcy and back to profitability in his first year (2004). Today, the DMC is undergoing $850 million in new construction as part of a deal Duggan negotiated as CEO.