Detroit Mayor Duggan endorses Mary Waters' congressional campaign
MACKINAC ISLAND — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced his support Thursday for At-Large Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters, who's running to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit.
"Our future is in Washington and we need somebody in Congress who fights for us. And right now, I don't feel like we got any help from our congressman," Duggan said during a press briefing on Mackinac Island where the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference is being held this week.
He described Waters as a tenacious politician who fights vigorously for a range of policies from housing to workforce training. He hugged Waters after announcing his support for her campaign, which marks her fourth congressional bid.
Waters celebrated the endorsement, saying the 13th Congressional District she seeks to represent "has been neglected." Her colleagues, when she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006, nicknamed her the "quiet storm," Waters said. "So look out Washington, D.C., Mary Waters is coming," she said, prompting applause from her supporters in the crowd.
Thanedar defended his record Thursday and criticized Duggan for endorsing Waters. "While Mayor Mike Duggan is interested in playing political games, I am focused on continuing to deliver for the people of Detroit and am confident they will send me back to Washington for another term," he wrote in a text message to the Free Press.
In launching her campaign earlier this year, Waters emphasized her support for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, cutting defense funding and increasing Social Security payments. She confronts a serious fundraising disadvantage as she tries to deny Thanedar another term. "The money's coming," she said. "And let me tell you, (Thanedar) has to spend what I've already earned and that's the goodwill from the people."
Thanedar had more than $5.1 million in cash on hand as of March 31, the date of the last finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. He has largely self-financed his campaign, loaning himself more than $3.3 million. Meanwhile, Waters had raised less than $10,000 in about two months of fundraising and had about $5,000 at the end of March when Adam Hollier was still a major factor in the race.
Duggan's endorsement comes after prominent Democrats had backed Hollier to defeat Thanedar, taking the rare step of supporting a challenger to an incumbent lawmaker running for reelection. But the Wayne County Clerk this month knocked Hollier off the primary ballot for the 13th Congressional District Aug. 6 because a review found he failed to submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify. On Thursday, the state's elections bureau denied an appeal from Hollier, according to a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office.
Hollier received the second-highest vote share after Thanedar in a crowded primary field in 2022 in the heavily Democratic congressional district where a Democrat is almost certain to win the general election.
This time, Hollier sought to coalesce support around his candidacy for the upcoming election.
Some members of Detroit's City Council and metro Detroit state lawmakers stood beyond Duggan to show their support for Waters: Councilmembers Angela Whitfield-Calloway, Scott Benson, Latisha Johnson, Fred Durhal III and Coleman A. Young II, along with state Reps. Alabas Farhat, of Dearborn; Kimberly Edwards, of Eastpointe, and Tyrone Carter, of Detroit. Benson, Carter and Durhal had previously endorsed Hollier, according to his campaign's website.
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The 13th Congressional District Democratic Party has already gone in a different direction, endorsing Thanedar after Hollier was disqualified from the ballot, according to the group's chair, Jonathan Kinloch. Thanedar's campaign also announced a round of new endorsements Thursday from Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar.
The 13th District includes part of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes and some Downriver communities. Attorney Shakira Lynn Hawkins has also filed to run in the Democratic primary. With Hollier disqualified, Thanedar and Waters are the candidates with the highest profile left in the race.
Staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report. Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Mike Duggan endorses Mary Waters for Congress
