At a press conference early this morning, Mike Duggan announced he is officially withdrawing from Detroit’s mayoral race.
Duggan, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, was kicked off the mayoral ballot last week after the Third Circuit Court ruled that he did not meet the residency requirement in Detroit’s electoral law. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld that decision. Duggan declined to appeal that ruling.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think you could get knocked off a ballot for filing too soon,” Duggan said. “But that is where we stand.”
Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton reported:
“He [Duggan] registered to vote in the city on April 16, 2012. According to city law, a candidate for elected office must be a registered voter a full year before filing. Duggan filed his nominating signatures for his mayoral run April 2, 2013 - fourteen days short of the requirement. While Duggan argued that the year should be tolled from the time of the actual filing deadline - May 14 - one of his opponents, Tom Barrow, disagreed.” The court agreed with Barrow, and ruled that Duggan hadn’t followed the election code. The Michigan Court of Appeals held up the court’s decision.
And now, so does Duggan.
“I just don’t think there’s a viable path forward for winning,” Duggan said, arguing that two court decisions against him on the ballot sealed his fate.
The former CEO said that the legal obstacles he has faced in recent weeks deterred him from trying to run a write-in campaign.
“I’m not writing my name on the ballot,” he said.
Duggan said he plans on staying in Detroit, but declined to say whether he’d run for office again in the city.
“I expect to be active in the community,” Duggan said. "Like I've been for the last 30 years."
The race to fill Mayor Dave Bing's seat continues, with the primaries held August 6. The general election will be in November.
- Melanie Kruvelis, Michigan Radio Newsroom
