Municipal candidates have until April 25 to file for office. The Detroit primary election is Aug. 8, during which the field of candidates for mayor will be trimmed to two. The General Election is Nov. 7.
The survey has Duggan up 31 percentage points over Young among voters 65 and older and 28 percentage points over Young among voters aged 50-64. Duggan has a 27-percentage point lead over Young among males.
Dennis DENNO, president of Denno Research, noted that while Duggan is leading in the polls, he didn’t crest 50 percent, which is typically viewed as a safe zone for incumbents. On the other hand, the fact Young, son of former Mayor Coleman A. YOUNG, was still behind 25 percentage points to the incumbent shows the incumbent goes into the race as the favorite.
“While Coleman Young might have a million-dollar name, this poll shows that he will need to raise over a $1 million to get Detroiters to vote for him for mayor,” Denno said. “Many say that Detroit is on the comeback, but Detroit voters might not be ready to give all the credit to Mayor Duggan either.”
On a separate question, 76 percent of voters said it was not important to them that an African-American be the mayor of Detroit. Young is black and Duggan is white.
Of the 24 percent of voters who said having an African American was important, 44 percent said they were supporting Young while, surprisingly, 27 percent were still voting for Duggan.
