DETROIT (WXYZ) — One of the most closely-watched contests during today's primary election will be in the City of Detroit, where voters will be taking the first step in selecting their next mayor.
It's a crowded field this year, and voters have to narrow the number of candidates from nine to two. You can learn more about the candidates, including interviews, at this link.
We asked Detroiters what they want to see in their next leader.
Watch Darren's story in the video player below
"I want him to stand on education. stand on it and do what he says he’s going to do," said voter Vonetta Culbert.
Whether it's he or she, nine candidates are hoping their campaign promises resonated with voters, enough to be one of the last two candidates when the polls close.
Voter Yesenia Perez says she doesn't care who wins, as long as they're in it for the right reasons.
“Make sure our people are well," Perez said. “And actually, do what they say they gone do. and not just talk because they trying to get into office.”
I sat down with 7 News Detroit Editorial Director Chuck Stokes, who says the next mayor needs to maintain fiscal responsibility, alongside being able to work with City Council to get things done.
“You can argue about, ‘did (Mayor) Duggan do this? Did Duggan do that?’ But I think everybody that I talk to who’s running for mayor, of the 9 balloted candidates, they weren’t running against Mike Duggan and his administration, they were really running to say, 'how do we pick up what he’s done, take it to the next level?' But also focus on some that maybe have not received the attention to the degree that they want. And I think that’s particularly the neighborhoods. Not downtown. Not midtown.”
That's a recurring concern raised among the Detroiters we spoke with, like Albert Crye.
“Like, where I stay at, a lot of the trees and the houses need a little more care, and we got a lot of elderly people that can’t really keep up with maintaining their homes, and they really need the help," Crye said.
Stokes said those legacy Detroiters also have to decide a historic question.
“For the first time in its long history, will it elect a qualified female as its chief executive officer? For some reason, I don’t know why, Detroit has never taken that step," Stokes said. "There’s been sort of a chauvinistic and some would say an ‘old school thinking’ among Detroiters that have prevented them from making a female take that next step up.”
Stokes said he doesn't think gender is going to be a defining issue for the majority of voters, but he thinks it is going to be a key issue.
