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By Jacob Meschke, Jalall Abdallah and Allan Lengel
The fall showdown for mayor will be between Mayor Mike Duggan and state Sen. Coleman A. Young II.
Duggan, who delivered a victory speech shortly after 10 p.m. before a throng of supporters at Hotel St. Regis on West Grand Blvd. in the New Center area, held a comfortable lead in Tuesday's mayoral primary. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Duggan captured 69 percent and Young, 27 percent.
"Thank you, Detroit. I saw the numbers come in, and it was overwhelming, This is a hard job, and every place I go in the city, I'm greeted with warmth and kindness, but you don't know how people feel until those votes come in," said the mayor, who came on stage at his victory party to a classic Stevie Wonder song, "Signed Sealed and Delivered."
“We ran an old-fashioned campaign. No TV, no radio,” Duggan said. “We won it in the streets.”
He added: "We're not taking anything for granted this fall. I'm coming out tomorrow and we're going to campaign twice as hard. . . . In the conversation this fall, you're not going to hear me attack my opponent. I'm not going to do it."
Duggan supporters gather at Hotel St. Regis
Four other candidates had 1 percent.
The two leaders will face off Nov. 7 in the general election, as universally expected.
Meanwhile, downtown at the DoubleTree hotel on Lafayette Blvd., Young entered the room at around 10:15 p.m. to raucous applause from his band of supporters, and made his way slowly across the room, embracing them one by one.
“I’ll debate him in the outhouse," Young said. "I’ll debate him in the penthouse. I’ll debate him in the courthouse. I’ll debate him in the poor house. I’ll debate him in his own damn house.”
“We have the power of the people on our side. We’re taking this city back.”
His campaign manager Adolph Mongo later said: “Any time you spend $20,000 against $1.2 million … you’re in good shape. We know what we gotta do. We know who we must appeal to.”
"This is going to be a real nasty campaign," Mongo said. "We're feeling good."
"We have folks who feel like they’re invisible, who feel like nobody pays attention to them. Coleman Young has been out in the community knocking on doors. They like him."
Young faces an uphill battle against Duggan, who has more campaign money and the edge that incumbency often brings.
His mayoral chief of staff tweeted just after 10 p.m. Tuesday:
.@MayorMikeDuggan won with 68% of vote! Second highest margin in last 30 years. #Detroit
— Alexis Wiley (@AlexisWileyNews) August 9, 2017
The election is seen as a referendum on whether the city is headed in the right direction and whether Duggan is the right person to move the city forward, improve the neighborhoods and reduce crime.
Young's anemic campaign fund-raising -- $22,000 at last count -- is seen by some as a sign of a poorly run campaign. Others suggest it reflects his thin support.
Primary turnout was low -- about 12 percent -- and public interest appeared tepid. Local newscasts at dinnertime led with nonpolitical stories.
Tuesday's most exciting news seemed to center on glitches at the polls.
Last week, in an interview with Deadline Detroit, pollster Ed Sarpolus said:
"The issue to me is that Coleman Young needs more visible support, I’ve known Coleman for a long time and he does have some some good ideas for the city. But he doesn’t have the resources to compete with Duggan, specifically money. It's not a level playing [field] and if he is going to win he needs more exposure."
In a sampling of Deadline Detroit interviews, the overwhelming majority of voters exiting the polls on Tuesday expressed support of Duggan and felt the city was headed in the right direction. Many said they hoped Duggan would do more in the neighborhood in his second term, but they also talked about seeing better services and a much improved downtown and Midtown.
Political analyst and radio personality Steve Hood told Deadline Detroit:
"Coleman’s race and his name are the only thing driving his campaign forward right now, he needs a more workable plan. He doesn’t have the experience or the plan right now to seriously compete in this election."
Supporters at Coleman A. Young II gathering at the Double Tree hotel.
