So is the state Senate,
Mike Duggan Age: 66
Education: University of Michigan Three-term mayor of Detroit (2014-present) Previously served as Wayne County prosecutor Former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center Democrat before 2024, now independent Married, four children Quote: “I actually think you’ve had a two-party death grip on this country for so long that the parties think they own you, that you have no other choice.”
though its house is narrowly controlled by Republicans. Whitmer, who is term-lim- ited and cannot run again, is also a Democrat. By running as an inde-
pendent, Duggan will not have to raise money for what is expected to be a bruising Democratic Party primary in a crowded field. Jocelyn Benson, Michi-
gan’s state secretary, has already declared her candi- dacy, as have Lt. Gov. Gar- lin Gilchrist II and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swan- son, but the list of Demo-
crat contenders could well grow. Declared Republican candidates
as of May include Rep. John James, state Sen. Aric Nesbitt, and former state Attorney General Mike Cox. In addition to raising large sums of
not yet know him — “Democratic candidates have 35% approval, and Republican candidates get 33%.” And while mayors tend to do well
in the cities that know them, said Schoen, “they usually don’t do well outside of those cities.” Duggan has asserted that the Dem-
ocratic Party — specifically, the Demo- cratic Governors Association — com- mitted $3 million in ads “to smear me.” Opponents have deluged him and
the mayor’s office with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about his mayoral activities — or “looking for dirt,” as Duggan called it. Among other topics, the FOIA
requests cover the renovation of his office — “there was none,” he said; travel expenses charged to the city — Duggan said he paid for all his own travel; and communications about wide-ranging topics between him and his staff, and any of his emails or those of his staff containing swear words. Specifically, the FOIA request states: “the N-word, ICE, illegal, terrorism,
socialism, towelhead, haji, acab, Pal- estinian, Israeli, Gaza, divest, boycott, sanction, idiot, and numerous other variations of racial and gender slurs.” Wavering between laughter, frus-
tration, and outrage, he noted that opponents have not requested infor- mation about his accomplishments as mayor — including cutting Detroit’s murder rate in half, attracting 10 auto- related companies to the city, or the addition of $1.2 billion worth of afford- able housing. Michigan, once among the bluest of
states, has become decidedly less so in recent years. Although Trump lost Michigan to
Joe Biden in 2020 by some 154,000 votes, Trump reclaimed the battle- ground state and its 15 electoral votes against Vice President Kamala Harris last year by 1.4%. Though seven of Michigan’s mem-
bers of Congress are Republicans and six are Democrats, Michigan’s two sena- tors — Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin — are Democrats.
money from the state’s business com- munity, which has handsomely sup- ported him as mayor, Duggan said he has already begun campaigning throughout the state, just as he initially did in Detroit. He has already picked up some important support. In May, he got the endorsement of 150 pastors, many of them Black who had traditionally sup- ported Democrats. Several of them pub- licly praised him for reducing neighbor- hood blight and crime, and for bringing jobs to Michigan’s largest city. Duggan has defended Whitmer,
whom some prominent Democrats have criticized for going to Washing- ton to try and persuade Trump to pro- vide emergency aid for Michigan and win assurances that a vital military base will not be shut down. She, in turn, has taken no posi-
tion on who should succeed her, refusing to endorse any of the Dem- ocrat contenders.
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and an expert on U.S. foreign policy.
JULY 2025 | NEWSMAX 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
