Mary Sheffield to face Solomon Kinloch in November election for Detroit mayor

DETROIT (AP) — The race for Detroit’s next mayor is set to pit a longtime City Council member against a popular pastor, after council President Mary Sheffield and megachurch leader Solomon Kinloch were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary.

Voters will decide in November which of the two will succeed popular three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent for Michigan’s open governor’s seat in 2026.

Sheffield and Kinloch bested a field of seven others, including former police Chief James Craig, former City Council member Saunteel Jenkins and current member Fred Durhal III.

If elected, Sheffield would be the first woman and the first Black woman to hold the role of Detroit mayor. She first was elected to the City Council in 2013 at age 26 and has been council president since 2022. Her father, Horace Sheffield III, is an activist and pastor of New Destiny Christian Fellowship church.

Kinloch has been senior pastor at Triumph Church for about 27 years. The Detroit-based church has more than 40,000 members across a number of campuses. Kinloch also was an autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers union.

Sheffield spoke to supporters at a downtown rooftop venue Tuesday night after easily taking the top spot in the crowded field.

“Detroit, we made this moment together," she said. "We claimed it together, and, Detroit, I believe that our best days are ahead of us.”

She said the primary win belongs to every boy or girl told to “dream small,” every neighborhood where people feel left behind, every senior who “paved the way” and every college student who wants to stay in the city.

“This is our moment,” she said.

Kinloch said that despite Detroit's resurgence, prosperity has not trickled down to enough of its residents.

“Until we reach the whole town, we have not done nearly enough,” he told supporters Tuesday night before being declared the second highest vote-getter. “I didn’t enter this race to chase power. I came to serve with a purpose. If we want a city that shines, we cannot ignore what’s in the shadows. If we want Detroit to rise, we cannot celebrate billions in investment downtown, but poverty in the neighborhoods.”

Kinloch also said crime still needs to be addressed. “It’s time we reckoned with reality, that far too many Detroiters feel left out.”

The continued growth of the city could be at stake since Duggan, who is running for Michigan's governor in 2026 as an independent, has helmed Detroit as it exited the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and surged back to respectability following decades of economic hardship. The former prosecutor and medical center chief has overseen a massive anti-blight campaign and pushed affordable housing developments across the city.

The next mayor will inherit a city on much firmer footing than the one Duggan was elected to lead in 2013 when an emergency manager installed by the state to oversee the city's flailing finances filed for bankruptcy on its behalf.

Detroit shed or restructured about $7 billion in debt and exited bankruptcy in December 2014. A state-appointed board managed the city’s finances for several years. Detroit has had 12 consecutive years of balanced budgets.

Developers have built hundreds of affordable housing units in the city, and more than 25,000 vacant and derelict homes and buildings have been demolished.

The next mayor will be under pressure to maintain that progress and continue to keep the city's financial and population growth going. In 2023, the census estimated that Detroit's population rose to 633,218 from 631,366 the previous year. It was the first time the city had shown population growth in decades.

Detroit also is becoming a destination for visitors. The 2024 NFL draft held downtown set a record with more than 775,000 in attendance.

New hotels are popping up in and around downtown. But perhaps the most visual example of the city's turnaround has been the renovation of the once-blighted monolithic Michigan Central train station.

For decades, the massive building just west of downtown symbolized all that was wrong with Detroit. That's before Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co. stepped in and bought the old Michigan Central and adjacent properties. It reopened in 2024 following a six-year, multimillion-dollar renovation that created a hub for mobility projects.

While no longer a manufacturing powerhouse, Detroit's economy still is intertwined with the auto industry, which currently faces uncertainties due to tariffs threatened and imposed by the Trump administration. Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles, has two facilities in Detroit. The automaker said last month that its preliminary estimates show a $2.68 billion net loss in the first half of the year due to U.S. tariffs and some hefty charges.

Detroit mayoral candidate Solomon Kinloch Jr. hugs supporters at a campaign watch party Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Supporters of Detroit mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield cheer at a campaign watch party Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Detroit mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield speaks at a campaign watch party Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Detroit Mayoral Candidate Mary Sheffield at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference Thursday, May 29, 2025 on Mackinac Island, Mich. (Sara Lynn Macy/Detroit News via AP)

This combo shows from left top, Detroit mayoral candidates: Saunteel Jenkins, Fred Durhal, Solomon Kinloch, Todd Perkins. From left bottom: Detroit mayoral candidates: James Craig, Jonathan Barlow, Joel Haashim, Mary Sheffield. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Bichette and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a $126 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced.

A two-time All-Star at shortstop with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bichette will move to third base with the Mets, who have Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Bichette has never played a professional game at the hot corner.

Bichette can opt out of the deal after the first or second season to become a free agent again. He would receive $47 million for one year and $89 million for two years, the person said.

The deal does not contain any deferred money and Bichette gets a full no-trade provision. His $42 million average annual value ties for the sixth-highest in baseball history.

It was the latest big development in an eventful offseason for the Mets, who angered fans by letting popular slugger Pete Alonso and star closer Edwin Díaz leave in free agency. President of baseball operations David Stearns also traded two other stalwarts in outfielder Brandon Nimmo and versatile veteran Jeff McNeil — both homegrown players.

New York signed closer Devin Williams to a $51 million, three-year contract, infielder Jorge Polanco to a $40 million, two-year deal and reliever Luke Weaver to a $22 million, two-year agreement.

Although he lacks Alonso's prodigious power, Bichette is a proven hitter with lightning-fast hands and a penchant for line-drive doubles. He would give the Mets a dangerous right-handed bat to help complement lefty slugger Juan Soto.

Because of his inexperience at third, however, Bichette becomes the latest question mark in the field for New York even though Stearns has insisted the team must improve its defense and is determined to do so.

Polanco has one pitch of major league experience at first base, where he and Mark Vientos, previously a third baseman, are the leading candidates to replace Alonso.

New York had planned to start Brett Baty at third, where he provides a strong glove. Baty, who also has experience at second base, is viewed as a versatile defender who could see time in the outfield and perhaps at first.

Or, the Mets could look to trade Baty for pitching or outfield help. Gold Glove winner Marcus Semien is set to play second after arriving from Texas in a November trade for Nimmo.

Bichette batted .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 139 games for the Blue Jays last year. He homered off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Late last season, Bichette sprained his left knee in a Sept. 6 collision with New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, keeping the infielder out of the lineup until the World Series. He returned for Game 1 against the Dodgers and played second base for the first time in six years.

Bichette led the American League in hits in 2021 and 2022. He finished second in the major leagues in batting average last season to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

Bichette turned down a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from the Blue Jays in November, so they would receive an extra draft pick in July after the fourth round if he completes his deal with the Mets.

New York would forfeit its second- and fifth-highest draft picks, along with $1 million in 2027 international signing bonus pool allocation.

Bichette was one of the last remaining big-name hitters on the free agent market after outfielder Kyle Tucker spurned the Mets and agreed Thursday to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers.

Bichette, who turns 28 in March, has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays since they selected him in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He is a .294 career hitter with 111 home runs and an .806 OPS in 748 major league games.

He is a son of former big league slugger Dante Bichette, a four-time All-Star outfielder.

AP Baseball Writers Ronald Blum and David Brandt and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston contributed to this report.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

FILE - Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette celebrates his three run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 7 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

FILE - New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns responds to questions during a news conference about MLB trade deadline deals, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)