Detroit mayoral race: the first white mayor in more than 40 years or the election of the local sheriff? Former Detroit Medical Center chief Mike Duggan consistently led Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon in polls throughout the campaign, so his win is not that big of a surprise to Detroiters. Duggan is the first white mayor of the Motor City since 1974 in a metropolis that is 85 percent black. Duggan faces mountainous problems, none more so than the city’s $20 billion bankruptcy catastrophe, and will actually have little power until the tenure of an emergency city manager ends.
