For the first time since 2014, Detroit will have a new mayor, and for the first time in the city’s history, a woman will serve in the role. This week, 77% of voters in Michigan’s largest city voted to elect Mary Sheffield as the next mayor of the City of Detroit.
Biography:
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- In 2022, she became the youngest person ever to be elected Council President of the Detroit City Council. She currently holds this role.
- In November 2013, at the age of 26, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Detroit City Council.
- She’s received numerous honors and recognitions, including Crain’s 20 in their 20s and 40 Under 40, the NAACP Great Expectations Award, and the Black United Fund’s 2024 Black Excellence Award, among others.
- Her family has a long history of public service. Her grandfather, Horace Sheffield Jr, was the founder of the Detroit Trade Union Labor Council and the Detroit Association of Black Organizations. Her father, Rev. Horace Sheffield III, is an advocate of social justice.
City of Detroit:
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- As of 2023, the city has more than 640,000 residents.
- The city is the most populated in Michigan, with the second highest populated, Grand Rapids, having just over 200,000 residents.
- It is the 26th most populous city in the nation.
- Detroit was incorporated as a city in 1815.
- Known as the Motor City, it’s home to the invention of the moving assembly line.
- Additionally, the city is the birthplace of Motown Records and Motown music.
