Mike Duggan is the winner of yesterday's mayoral primary in Detroit. He attributed his success to the 10,000 people he talked to at 'house parties' during his primary campaign.
"I was at 185 homes. I was in living rooms, and backyards, and church halls, and apartment complexes. They carried me up."
The former Detroit Medical Center CEO won the primary as a write-in candidate.
"When everyone who votes for you has to figure out how to navigate the write-in process, it gives you an idea of the depth of commitment people have to do it."
One thing that Duggan didn't do in his campaign was make race an issue. According to Duggan, the candidates who did make race an issue helped his campaign.
"The vast majority of Detroiters are ready to get past whatever historic differences there are because we have so much more in common than we have in differences. When there's an abandoned house next to you and you're going to sleep at night worried that it's going to catch on fire and get to you and your family, the race of the person who's running is a secondary issue. You want to know who has the ability to solve the problem," he said.
He also has been criticized for not being very detailed on specifics in his plan to make Detroit "better and stronger."
Duggan said that he does have specifics, but the media hasn't highlighted them.
"You don't spend two hours in people's living rooms without going through specifics. I've gone through, in detail, specific plans for the businesses, neighborhoods and police. What's covered in the media is some barber who filed for a write-in campaign or a lot of other divisive stuff. I didn't get where I am without being specific and will formally release a plan in the next couple weeks," he said.
Part of that plan includes phasing out Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr.
"On November 5th we will have elected a mayor who has a great deal of turnaround and financial management experience and [I've] got the ability to deliver on those things. There's no longer any justification to deny the people the right to select their own leaders."
--Lucy Perkins, Michigan Radio Newsroom
To hear the full audio, click the link above.
