Detroit Voters Elect Duggan Mayor of Broke City
NPR, November 5, 2013
A former medical center chief defeated a county sheriff to become the next mayor of financially troubled Detroit, though the job holds little power while the city is being run by a state-appointed emergency manager.
Unofficial returns showed Mike Duggan defeating Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon 55 percent to 45 percent. Napoleon conceded defeat late Tuesday in a race where Duggan outspent him by about 3-to-1 heading into Tuesday’s election.
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Duggan, an ex-county prosecutor and former chief of the Detroit Medical Center, had said he wanted to convince Orr’s boss, Gov. Rick Snyder, to allow him to develop a team and a plan to resuscitate the city’s fiscal condition if elected mayor.
Both Duggan and Napoleon campaigned on fixing Detroit’s deteriorating neighborhoods and reducing the high crime rate in a city that struggles to respond to 911 calls on time. {snip}
But anything the new mayor wants done that requires money must first get Orr’s approval.
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Duggan becomes Detroit’s first white mayor since the early 1970s. The city is more than 80 percent black.
