November 4, 2025
Sheffield touched on the progress the city has made under the leadership of current Mayor Mike Duggan who is hoping to be the next governor of Michigan but she said she is the woman to finish the job.
Election Day has arrived, and there are several hot-ticketed races, including the Detroit mayoral race between City Council President Mary Sheffield and Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr., with Sheffield seeking to become the first Black woman to lead the city, Click On Detroit reported.
Sheffield has served on the Motor City Council since 2013 and made history in 2022 by becoming the youngest person elected as council president. She has a keen vision for Detroit, which has been riddled with political turmoil in the past, including reliable transportation, affordable housing, and the restoration of distressed neighborhoods.
During an interview close to her campaign headquarters, Sheffield touched on the progress the city has made under the leadership of current Mayor Mike Duggan, who is hoping to be the next governor of Michigan. Still, she said she is the woman to finish the job.
“We’ve made progress in Detroit, and there’s no doubt that there’s more work that needs to be done, and I’m running to finish the work that we started,” she said, according to WXYZ Detroit.
“Whether that’s prioritizing our neighborhoods, ensuring that we’re improving education, ensuring there are good livable wage jobs for our residents, and also ensuring that we’re reducing crime in Detroit, these things are fundamental to the city rising higher.”
While Sheffield has already issued a 100-day plan to continue Detroit’s progress and set new standards within city hall, her campaign has been met with some scrutiny, particularly over her social media presence. During a June 2025 debate, former opponent Saunteel Jenkins said in her closing argument, “If you want a mayor who shows up on Instagram but doesn’t show up for meetings, then follow Mary.”
The slight jab comes after Sheffield was under fire for accepting free tickets to a Jeezy concert at the Fox Theatre, where the hip-hop artist gave her a shoutout. The rapper can be heard saying “Shoutout to Mary Sheffield, congratulations already!” in the Instagram post as the candidate posted it with the caption, “Detroit, let’s finish the work!! Thank you, @jeezy.”
Kinloch used this opportunity to condemn the tickets, saying they reopen wounds from Detroit’s corrupt reputation. “Detroiters still carry the scars of systemic corruption. That culture of corruption bankrupted our city and destroyed public trust,” he said in a statement.
After highlighting the city’s ethics ordinance, with Section 2-106.4 prohibiting “a public servant from accepting gifts, gratuities, or honoraria from any entity or person seeking official action from the city of Detroit,” Sheffield campaign spokesperson Brittni Brown cited the code not being applicable since Comerica Bank presented the tickets.
Kinloch has similar ideas for the city as he secured his name on the ballot for the general election with roughly 1,100 more votes than Jenkins. The pastor of Triumph Church, who has served for the last 27 years, hopes to focus on improving public safety, affordable housing, and guaranteeing business prosperity. If elected, one of his first goals is to prioritize poverty and crime, with a focus on the vast number of children living in poverty. “We’ve got too many children in our community that are living in poverty, we have a violent crime rate that’s second to the nation, when we have people struggling because they’re spending 50 percent of their income to keep a roof over their head, this is a critical time,” Kinloch said.
“We gotta make sure we get it right.”
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