When Detroit filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2013, few would have believed that little over a decade later, the Motor City would come fighting back. But with the city facing record-setting municipal debt and burdened by decades of bad governance and a shrinking population, an up-and-coming political talent named Mike Duggan managed to sell Detroiters on his plan to reverse the downward spiral. Voters elected him to the mayor’s office that year, where he has served ever since.
Duggan promised to restore basic city services, invest in a larger police force and innovative crime-fighting solutions, and spur economic growth. His success in running on, and governing by, this commonsense platform points a way forward for future leaders of America’s big cities. Though Detroit’s financial and livability crisis in the early 2010s was particularly severe, the mix of issues the city had to deal with was not. Many cities today are struggling with the same problems—mounting budget deficits, restrictive zoning rules, and persistently high crime rates, including for the kinds of quality-of-life offenses that make neighborhoods feel unsafe to residents.
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As mayor, Duggan pursued several effective efforts to improve public safety and attract new investment. Project Green Light, for example, was a public-private initiative launched by the Mayor’s Office and the Detroit Police Department that helped businesses in high-crime areas install security cameras. The high-definition cameras fed directly into a police department monitoring station and were complemented by large green police-car-style lights that warned off would-be thieves. Crime levels around businesses that joined the program subsequently dropped.
To promote development throughout the city, Duggan used strategic tax incentives such as the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone program and took advantage of the Michigan Strategic Fund. He also placed an emphasis on simplifying zoning rules through initiatives like Zone Detroit. These reforms, along with many others, made big projects like the building of Little Caesars Arena and the redevelopment of historic Michigan Central Station possible, creating thousands of jobs and injecting new life into several of the city’s venerable neighborhoods.
Duggan’s leadership has helped revitalize a city that for more than half a century has served as a cautionary tale of urban decline. Violent crime rates stand at historic lows, with 2024 seeing the fewest homicides in the city since 1965. Perhaps the most easily perceptible accomplishment is Downtown Detroit, which has grown its share of residents by roughly 30 percent over the last decade. Duggan’s success hasn’t gone unappreciated by Detroiters. He grew his margin of victory in each of his mayoral reelection campaigns, including a whopping 51-point victory in 2021.
Duggan’s performance at the municipal level has also elevated his statewide profile. He recently announced his candidacy for Michigan governor in 2026. To the surprise of many, he will run for that position not as a Democrat but as an Independent. His popularity in Detroit gives him an outside shot at winning. Recent polling by Lansing-based Target-Insyght puts him ahead of the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in Detroit by five percentage points. Though his numbers statewide are less impressive, he remains, at a minimum, a serious force of disruption in the race, polling well in several populous Metro Detroit counties such as Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland.
Even if Duggan doesn’t reach the governor’s mansion, his political future looks bright. Urban leaders in other American cities should emulate his approach. Duggan’s track record challenges the narrative that the most effective way for a big-city Democratic mayor to raise his political profile is to run and govern like a progressive.
Top Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images
