Closing the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference, five Detroit mayoral candidates participated in the first debate of the election season, sharing their ideas and plans if elected Mayor of Detroit.
To kick off the debate, the candidates were asked what role the business community should play in Detroit and how they would manage tools like tax credits to lure or keep people in the city.
Saunteel Jenkins suggested that constituents “need a mayor is a business partner … that’s the role I’ll play as Mayor … [to] partner with businesses.”
“We will look to restructure the abatement [taxes] … allowing our developers to pay a little earlier,” Fred Durhal III said, also suggesting that Detroit needs a mayor who “already has a proven track record” of working with and in the City during the Duggan administration.
Solomon Kinloch Jr. suggested that businesses not be the only stakeholders at the table, “because we want to make sure residents feel like they are a part of the community … we should continue to welcome them as long as business owners are willing to work with [Detroit and its residents].”
James Craig pointed out his own business-friendly track record and urged raising revenues for the City, saying, “If we’re going to grow our middle class, we’re going to have to be business-friendly.”
Mary Sheffield suggested structural property tax reform to boost business levels in Detroit, saying, “There is no doubt that the growth of our city was largely due to the public-private partnerships … when it comes to tax abatements, it is addressing why we have to do this in the first place.”
The candidates were also asked more specific questions based on their professional backgrounds and ideologies.
Sheffield was asked how she would work with the federal government, specifically with the Trump administration, if she were to be Mayor. To that, she said that she knows how to work with all types of people and would not be intimidated by the President.
Craig spoke about his Conservative political ideology, but he said that it did not negatively impact his ability to work in “democratic cities” for most of his career, and it would not change if he were to become Mayor. He also added his “relationship with the White House, and I will leverage it.”
Solomon was asked about balancing his time being mayor while also remaining a leader at his church—something he would still do if elected, but “just like the Mayor, I don’t run the church alone.”
Jenkins was asked to explain her City Council resignation in 2013—something she said was not abandoning the city during the bankruptcy process, but rather, literally to the day the city announced the exit of the bankruptcy.
Durhal was asked about his leadership experiences during his time on Detroit City Council, to which he implored that he has a “proven track record of getting things done. … we’re at a crossroads, we cannot go back, we have to have someone with a reputation of being a builder.”
Watch the whole debate below.