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Left: Duggan and his fiance at a Tuesday victory party at Good Vibes Lounge, on the east side. Right: An anti Prop P ad. (Photos: Allan Lengel, Violet Ikonomova)
In a somewhat predictable municipal primary with just 14-percent turnout, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan scored an easy victory, with Anthony Adams, the former deputy mayor under Kwame Kilpatrick, coming in second. Tom Barrow, who ran for mayor for the fifth time, came in third, solidifying his title as a perrenial loser.
Adams and Duggan will square off in November, in what will be an uphill battle for Adams, who pulled in just 10 percent of the vote to Duggan's 73 percent.
Proposal P, which called for revisions in the Detroit Charter, lost badly, with 67 percent of voters opposing the measure. Leading opponents included Duggan and the business community, who spent big to warn its progressive reforms would render the city bankrupt, though that projection was disputed.
In the city clerk's race, four-term incumbent Janice Winfrey and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib staffer Denzel McCampbell advanced to the November ballot. Winfrey, despite past trouble, defeated McCampbell by a 55-point margin.
Things got more interesting down-ballot, where four Detroit City Council races featured a range of candidates.
Latisha Johnson, who runs a nonprofit development group, and M.L. Elrick, a former Fox 2 and Free Press reporter, advanced in the hotly contested District 4 race to replace recently indicted councilmember Andre Spivey. Johnson pulled in 32 percent of votes to Elrick's 25. Toson Knight, a former deputy district manager, came in third place, followed by retired Wayne County Judge Virgil C. Smith in fourth.
Former state Rep. Fred Durhal III and community leader Regina Ross advanced in the District 7 race to replace Gabe Leland, who resigned after pleading guilty to a felony. Retired police officer John Bennett, who lost to Leland by fewer than 50 votes in 2013, and former Detroit Charter Commissioner Joanna Underwood, were knocked off.
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Incumbent James Tate won the District 1 council race with more than 70 percent of the vote. He'll face Krystal Larsosa in November, who pulled in 12 percent of votes, knocking off police comissioner Daryll Brown.
Four of five at-large, or city-wide, candidates will advance to the November election. They are former State Sen. Coleman Young, Jr. (31%), incumbent Janee Ayers (31%), Mary Waters (23%) and Nicole Small (11%). One of the two at-large seats is open, with Council President Brenda Jones set to retire.
