Mike Duggan facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Mike Duggan
Duggan in 2025

75th Mayor of Detroit
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2014
Preceded by	Dave Bing
Prosecutor of Wayne County
In office July 11, 2001 – July 16, 2004
Preceded by	John O'Hair
Succeeded by	Kym Worthy

Personal details
Born	Michael Edward Duggan (1958-07-15) July 15, 1958 (age 67) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Democratic (before 2024) Independent (2024–present)
Spouses	Lori Maher (divorced 2019) Sonia Hassan (2021–present)
Children	4
Relatives	Patrick Duggan (father)
Residence	Manoogian Mansion
Education	University of Michigan (BA, JD)

Michael Edward Duggan (born July 15, 1958) is an American politician. He has been the 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan since 2014. He is an independent politician. Before becoming mayor, Duggan worked as the prosecutor for Wayne County from 2001 to 2004. He was also the deputy county executive of Wayne County from 1987 to 2001.

Duggan studied at the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree in 1980 and a law degree in 1983. He became well-known after his election in 2013. He was the first white mayor of Detroit, a city with a majority Black population, since the early 1970s. Duggan was re-elected by large majorities in 2017 and 2021. In 2020, more than 68% of people approved of his work, which was the highest approval rating for any Detroit mayor.

In November 2024, Duggan announced he would not run for a fourth term as mayor. The next month, he announced he would run as an independent for governor of Michigan in 2026.

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Early Life and Education

Mike Duggan was born in Detroit on July 15, 1958. His father was Patrick J. Duggan. His paternal grandfather came from County Kilkenny, Ireland, and moved to Detroit when he was 18. His paternal grandmother's parents were from Ireland and Germany.

Duggan lived in Detroit for his first six years. In 1963, his family moved to nearby Livonia. He graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1980. He then earned a law degree from the same university in 1983.

Early Career

As a member of the Democratic Party, Duggan worked in Wayne County, Michigan. He started in 1986 as an assistant lawyer for the county. From 1987 to 2001, he was the deputy County Executive under Edward H. McNamara. In 2000, he was elected as the county's prosecutor. He also served as the temporary general manager for SMART, the public transportation system, from 1992 to 1996.

Starting in 2004, Duggan became the president and CEO of the Detroit Medical Center. He was in this role when the medical center, which used to be a nonprofit, was sold to a company called Vanguard Health Systems in 2010.

Mayor of Detroit

2013 Election Campaign

In 2012, Duggan left his job at the Detroit Medical Center. He moved from Livonia to Detroit because he wanted to run for mayor the next year. However, he could not get on the official ballot. This was because he filed his paperwork less than a year after moving to the city. If he had waited just two more weeks, he would have qualified.

Duggan campaigning in May 2013

Instead, he ran as a write-in candidate. This means people had to write his name on the ballot. He received 52% of the votes in the August primary election. In Detroit's election system, the top two candidates run against each other in the main election. So, Duggan ran against Benny Napoleon, who had 29% of the votes. Duggan's campaign slogan was "Every neighborhood has a future." He promised to improve the city's money situation, reduce crime, and help the economy grow. In November, he won the general election with 55% of the votes. He became the first white mayor of Detroit, which is now a majority-Black city, since Roman Gribbs served from 1970 to 1974.

First Term as Mayor

During his first term, Mayor Duggan focused on making emergency services faster and improving bus services. He also started a large program to tear down old buildings, which was a bit controversial.

Duggan also worked on turning the city's streetlights back on. He had great success with this, building on efforts started by the previous mayor, Dave Bing.

Duggan had promised to create a city-owned insurance company called "D Insurance." He strongly supported a bill in 2015 to create this program, but it did not pass in the Michigan Legislature.

Duggan greatly increased the number of parks that were regularly taken care of. In 2013, only 25 parks received regular maintenance. By 2017, this number grew to 275 parks, according to the mayor's office.

Towards the end of his first term, Duggan created Detroit's first office focused on sustainability. This office works on making Detroit greener and preparing for climate change. In June 2019, this office created Detroit's first Sustainability Action Agenda.

By 2017, Detroit's unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%. This was the lowest it had been since 2000. Duggan helped create "Detroit at Work," an online tool launched in 2017. It connects people looking for jobs with employers and job training. Duggan also started the "Grow Detroit’s Young Talent" program, which gave summer jobs to thousands of young people.

In 2017, the city started giving out "Detroit ID" cards. These municipal identification cards help residents who do not have a social security number access city services and some banks.

Even with his efforts, Detroit continued to lose population during his first term. Duggan became known as a skilled leader who focused on practical solutions. During this time, the city's government had limited power because the state was overseeing its finances due to the city's bankruptcy.

Duggan’s administration took a stronger stand against graffiti in Detroit. By the end of his first term in 2017, over 50 people who vandalized property were arrested. More than $1.2 million in fines were given out because of graffiti. Shop owners were fined if graffiti was not removed within 7 days. Some vandals were charged with serious crimes. However, his administration supported murals as public art and required them to be registered with the city. He also worked with local artists on public art projects.

Second Term as Mayor

Duggan taking his oath of office for his second term

In the 2017 Detroit mayoral election, Duggan was re-elected by a large margin. He received 72% of the votes, while his opponent, Coleman Young II, received 27%.

In the spring of 2018, the city of Detroit was no longer under state oversight. This meant its city government had full control over its operations for the first time in 40 years.

Duggan faced a controversy in December 2019. The Detroit Office of the Inspector found that three top city officials, including his chief of staff, had ordered public employees to delete emails related to a nonprofit group called Make Your Date. The Michigan Attorney General started an investigation into this. In September 2020, a group called Investigative Reporters and Editors gave Duggan and the city an award for being the most secretive agency or person in the United States.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Duggan was praised for starting efforts like mass testing. In March 2021, Duggan first decided not to order 6,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. He said he thought the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were better. After some criticism, Duggan said he would no longer refuse the vaccine.

Duggan spent much of his second term managing the city’s rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine. Throughout early 2021, more people in the city gained access to the vaccine. He also addressed concerns about the vaccine from the city's majority Black population. When asked about problems with the vaccine rollout, Duggan mostly blamed the federal government. In February 2021, Duggan went to Washington D.C. to meet with other state and local leaders and President Joe Biden to talk about how to respond to the pandemic.

In December 2021, Duggan led efforts to tear down the abandoned former American Motors Headquarters building. After it was demolished, the land is planned to be used for a new development project to help the local economy.

Third Term as Mayor

Duggan at a March 2022 event with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Duggan was re-elected for his third term in the 2021 Detroit mayoral election.

In the first few months of his third term, Duggan presented a new proposed city budget. The city council later approved this budget.

Earlier, during Duggan's second term in 2019, the Detroit Incinerator that was built in 1989 was shut down. This incinerator had caused many health problems in nearby areas and was a source of air pollution. In its last years, its pollution was 750 times higher than the allowed standards. On May 24, 2022, Duggan announced that the Incinerator would be demolished. The company hired for the demolition estimated that they would earn $1.3 million from selling salvaged metals and other materials.

In November 2022, Duggan announced changes to important staff members in his administration.

One of Duggan's main goals is affordable housing. Mayor Duggan and other city council members created a $203 million plan to provide affordable housing for Detroit residents. This money was divided among seven services and programs. These included help for homeowners, renovations for apartment buildings, and a new Detroit Housing Services division. The goal is to turn empty apartment buildings into rental homes, speed up approvals for affordable housing projects, and help landlords meet housing rules. Duggan believes this plan is "one of the most comprehensive strategies for providing affordable housing." However, the $203 million was a one-time amount for 2022, not an annual payment.

In addition to this plan, the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund (DHFF) aims to keep existing housing affordable. In January 2022, the fund received a $10 million donation. The goal is to raise $75 million, and with this donation, the city reached $65 million of that goal. In October 2022, the DHFF finished its second project, which involved renovating a historic apartment building. The renovations included updating the electricity, plumbing, and replacing the roof.

To further help Detroit's residents, Duggan's administration named April Faith-Slaker as the head of the city's Office of Eviction Defense. This new office helps residents facing eviction by providing them with legal advice.

In 2023, Detroit saw its first year of population growth since 1957, according to estimates. When he first ran for mayor, Duggan had promised to stop the city's population from shrinking. For several years before the population growth was officially recorded, Duggan had argued that the population estimates were wrong and that the city was already growing. He even filed lawsuits saying that the population had been undercounted.

Personal Life

Duggan and Sonia Hassan, his wife

Mike Duggan was married to Mary Loretto "Lori" Maher. In May 2019, Duggan and Maher announced they were ending their marriage. Their divorce was finalized on September 17, 2019. On June 29, 2021, Duggan announced his engagement to Dr. Sonia Hassan. Duggan and Hassan were publicly linked before his divorce. Their relationship was discussed publicly, with some questions about whether Duggan and the city gave special treatment to a program that Hassan led at Wayne State University. He married Hassan in 2021.