Detroit has a new mayor, and she’s a Black woman, y’all!
Mary Sheffield swept to victory Tuesday night with more than 77% of the vote, becoming the first woman to lead the Motor City in its 210-year history. The City Council president defeated Triumph Church Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr. in a race that marks a turning point for one of America’s most iconic Black cities.
“Tonight, our city adds another chapter to its great history…75 mayors have led this city. Not one has been a woman. But tonight, Detroit, as we know that changes. And you changed it, Detroit,” Sheffield told supporters in her victory speech.
Sheffield, 38, was first elected to the City Council in 2013 at age 26 and has been council president since 2022. Her landslide win comes after years of steady leadership and a campaign centered on community investment and public safety.
“I don’t take for granted that I stand on the shoulders of so many warrior women who have prayed, who have sacrificed, just for us to be here in this moment,” she continued. “A torch carried from one generation to the next. And so I say to every little girl watching tonight. And to every child in this city. Never doubt yourself. You are gifted. You are powerful.”
Sheffield’s victory carries forward a family legacy steeped in Detroit’s fight for justice. Her father, Horace Sheffield III, is an activist and pastor of New Destiny Christian Fellowship church Her grandfather, Horace Sheffield Jr., was instrumental in establishing the UAW Inter-Racial Committee in 1941, which addressed workplace discrimination long before such efforts were commonplace. Sheffield Jr. played a pivotal role in connecting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Detroit’s labor movement and marched in the city’s 1963 Walk to Freedom.
Sheffield will take office in January 2026 and succeed three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who announced he would not seek reelection and is instead running for Michigan governor as an independent. Sheffield is a Duggan ally who won his endorsement days after winning the Detroit mayoral primary in August.
Sheffield will inherit a city that continues to improve following Detroit’s 2014 exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. While challenges remain, Detroit ended 2024 with 203 homicides (the fewest since 1965) which is a 19% drop from the previous year. The city has had 12 consecutive years of balanced budgets, and Detroit’s population has grown following decades of losses.
Sheffield also laid out an ambitious vision for her administration, “Together, we will invest in every corner of our city,” she said. “Rebuilding our neighborhoods, investing in our commercial corridors. Every family will feel supported. Every child will have a path to reach their full potential.”