Senate Minority Floor Leader Morris HOOD III (D-Detroit) received 9 percent, community activist Heaster WHEELER had 7 percent, and former mayoral aide Adam HOLLIER had 3 percent. The survey, taken Sunday and Monday, has a margin of error of 6 percent. Of the calls made, 21 percent were to cell phones.
“It shows there is an opening for clerk. It shows she’s vulnerable,” said Denno Research President Dennis DENNO, adding that he was surprised Hood, who has a well-known name in Detroit, wasn’t able to crest double digits.
“Let’s face it. She’s run citywide twice. There were problems in the last election, but at least a third of voters are willing to put her back in office.”
In November, the Secretary of State conducted an audit of how the Detroit city clerk’s office conducted the 2016 presidential election after a partial recount of the presidential election found several ballot boxes that were uncountable. In one anecdote, a precinct box was found to have contained 250 fewer ballots than what was written on the outside of the box.
However, the Secretary of State found no evidence of fraud, but did suggest she do a better job training her staff (See “Detroit Clerk Declares No Election Fraud, State Not Done With Audit,” 1/27/17).
Winfrey’s “egregious mishandling” of the election spurred the online publication Motor City Muckraker to call for her resignation.
Winfrey ran against U.S. Rep. John CONYERS, Jr. (D-Detroit) in the 2016 Democratic primary, but lost with 39 percent of the vote.
