Over the weekend a new candidate officially threw his hat into the Detroit mayoral race.
Coleman Young Jr., the term-limited State Senator, says he’s joining the race. Current Mayor Mike Duggan announced his official candidacy a couple weeks ago. The filing deadline is April 25.
Young Jr., 34, made his announcement on WHPR radio on Sunday in Highland Park, according to multiple reports.
His father, Coleman A. Young, was also a State Senator before serving as the first African-American Mayor of Detroit, serving from 1973-1993. He died in 1997 at the age of 79.
According to MIRS, the Michigan Information and Research Service:
Senator Young served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate. In the August 2010 primary he bested Mary Waters a former member of the Michigan House.
He also served as an intern for Rev. Joann Watson, a former Detroit City Councilwoman.
It’s going to be interesting to see just how much sway that last name still has in the city, and what the younger Young will do to stand out from the pack (as it’s expected more people will enter the race before the filing deadline).
As far as the incumbent Mike Duggan goes, spokeswoman Alexis Wiley told WXYZ that they’re excited to “run on our record of what they’ve done.”
Detroit’s mayoral election is a non-partisan ballot, though it’s traditionally heavily Democrat. There’s a primary on August 8, and the top two vote getters move on for a general election on November 7.