Detroit’s city council election outshines mayoral race

This election year in Detroit, it’s all about the city council candidates. In most Detroit elections the mayoral race takes the spotlight, as the top two candidates are usually competing more heavily for votes. But after the August primary results showed Bing got more than 70 percent of the vote, it’s generally assumed in most political circles that the mayor will prevail in the general election on Nov. 3, despite Bing’s clash with unions over layoffs and pay cuts.

Since Bing has publicly refused to engage his opponent, accountant Tom Barrow, in a debate, much public attention that usually would be focused on the mayoral contest has shifted to city council candidates. Also, Barrow running for mayor is nothing new. He tried to unseat the late former mayor Coleman A. Young twice unsuccessfully in the 80s, so perhaps some of Barrow’s novelty as a mayoral candidate has faded.

Because so many people are interested in the city council race, the first of a series of live televised debates featuring only city council candidates will air on Detroit’s WADL TV 38 on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. In the past, the televised debates have featured mayoral contenders instead of the 18 candidates vying for a council seat.

Also, all the polling done in this general election has been focused on city council candidates and not mayoral hopefuls. A recent poll looks at which council candidates are most likely to win in November, but no major polling has been published on the mayoral race, the charter commission race or school board race.

Another example of how the city council race is dominant in this election can be seen at public forums. Mayoral candidates are not present at many locally sponsored candidate forums that are now taking place daily as the election nears. The local forums sponsored by churches, grassroots organizations feature city council candidates more often than they present candidates running for the Board of Education, Charter Revision Commission or mayor.

This year there are some other uncommon factors at play. This spring when much media attention was given to the political downfall of former councilwoman Monica Conyers and Barbara Rose-Collins’ hymn singing at a council meeting, among other antics, pressure grew to replace some council members in the upcoming election. The negative reports about the behavior of certain council members brought a bigger conversation about who should be sitting the council table.