A former medical center chief defeated a county sheriff to become the next mayor of financially troubled Detroit, though the job holds little power while the city is being run by a state-appointed emergency manager.
Related NPR Stories
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, appearing with his family, waves goodbye to supporters after conceding the Virginia governor's race to Terry McAuliffe. Cuccinelli's stronger-than-expected run became the dominant story on Election Night.
It's All Politics
7 Election Lessons We Should Have Seen Coming
Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who won a close election Tuesday to become Virginia's next governor, hugged wife Dorothy at the campaign's victory celebration in Tysons Corner, Va.
The Two-Way
Your Election News In Five Headlines
Unofficial returns showed Mike Duggan defeating Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon 55 percent to 45 percent. Napoleon conceded defeat late Tuesday in a race where Duggan outspent him by about 3-to-1 heading into Tuesday's election.
Both candidates said during the campaign that the state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, should leave the city and allow the new mayor to fix Detroit's finances when he takes office in January.
"I'm going to try to shorten Kevyn Orr's stay," Duggan told The Associated Press heading into the election.
But the reality is that Duggan will have little power under Orr, who in July filed to take Detroit into bankruptcy.
Duggan, an ex-county prosecutor and former chief of the Detroit Medical Center, had said he wanted to convince Orr's boss, Gov. Rick Snyder, to allow him to develop a team and a plan to resuscitate the city's fiscal condition if elected mayor.
Both Duggan and Napoleon campaigned on fixing Detroit's deteriorating neighborhoods and reducing the high crime rate in a city that struggles to respond to 911 calls on time. Detroit has more than 30,000 vacant houses and buildings. Current Mayor Dave Bing's administration has demolished about 10,000 empty and dangerous houses during his four-year term.
But anything the new mayor wants done that requires money must first get Orr's approval.
Snyder did not endorse a candidate, but after testimony last week in bankruptcy court, he held firm in his decision to appoint Orr and keep him in place until Detroit emerges from bankruptcy and its finances are fixed.
"Detroit's fiscal crisis was six decades in the making," Snyder said in a statement. "My job is to make the tough decisions to resolve the problems we face today, not ignore them."
Detroit's mayor cannot remove Orr. Under state law, that only can be done by the governor or an act of the state Legislature. However, once Orr's 18-month contract ends, a supermajority vote by the City Council and mayor can choose not to renew it.
Bing did not seek re-election. He has always been opposed to Detroit having an emergency manager and has been frustrated by the relationship he has with Orr, saying that Orr hasn't communicated well with the mayor's office.
Duggan becomes Detroit's first white mayor since the early 1970s. The city is more than 80 percent black.
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/243134233/detroit-voters-elect-duggan-mayor-of-broke-city
