(WXYZ) — The start of 2026 will also mark the end of an era in Detroit politics.
After more than a decade leading the Motor City through bankruptcy, blight removal, major development and unprecedented population and business growth, Mayor Mike Duggan is preparing to leave the Manoogian Mansion. However, he isn't stepping away from public service. Instead, he's launched a campaign to be Michigan's next governor, running as an Independent.
I sat down with Duggan for a candid conversation about legacy, lessons, and the road ahead.
You can Carolyn Clifford's full story with Duggan in the video below
"What's going through your mind now as you prepare to walk out of the city for the last time?" I asked Duggan.
"We're trying to wrap up our last project, so hopefully today we will get the soccer stadium," Duggan said during our interview, speaking about the future stadium for Detroit City FC in Corktown. City Council approved the plan at the end of November.
The mayor also spoke about plans for the former Uniroyal site along the Detroit Riverfront to become one of Detroit's major recreation centers.
After those, he said it's on to packing up the boxes at the office and at home.
The Mayor says the Uniroyal site will become one of Detroit's major recreation centers along the riverfront.. then he says it's on to packing up boxes at the office and at home.
"Is it hard? You had 12 years of things accumulated," I asked.
"The hardest part is the packing," he said.
Duggan took the job when Detroit was bankrupt and facing one of the toughest financial and leadership crises in modern American history.
"Some people already call you the mayor who turned Detroit around. How do you hope your legacy will be remembered?" I asked.
"You know, I think I'll be judged by what happens after I'm gone," he said. "Everything that we've done was to try to lay the long-term basis. To bring in the Jeep plants and the Dakota plants and having long-term employment bases, to completely rebuild the riverfront."
Under Duggan’s leadership, thousands of abandoned homes were demolished or renovated, neighborhoods saw new investment, and the city’s financial stability returned.
But there has been some criticism, including questions over equity, affordable housing, and whether long-time Detroiters benefited equally from the city’s revival.
"Can you think of your biggest challenge?" I asked.
"I think if there's one thing, you know, I came in with 47,000 abandoned houses in the neighborhood and we're now down to 1,000, and I think that there's one change, it has been the physical transformation, the blight removal," he said.
"You are a different type of mayor and politician that I've witnessed. I mean, walking into churches, walking into neighborhoods, walking into people's homes, not with an entourage," I told him.
"I go into the neighborhoods and nobody checks,and occasionally people will flag me down to tell me something they can't believe that I'm out driving by myself, and the security doesn't like that, but I've never had, I've never had an issue," he said.
Now — Duggan is setting his sights beyond Detroit — launching a bid for the governor's office, hoping to take his brand of pragmatic leadership statewide
"You said you're not done serving, just shifting the stage? How are you going to carry what you had in Detroit, and move that to the governor's office if you're elected?" I asked.
"You know, I was up in Saginaw and I had one group where a number of people came in and said, 'I'm a hardcore Republican.' Other people came in, 'I'm a hardcore Democrat,' but it's a small community. They looked at each other and they realized that these two groups of people would never sit in the same room, and they started laughing about the fact.
"They're tired about the campaigns where they whip you up into hating the other party in order to vote for them. And so I'm just saying to folks, if you're happy with politics as usual, you've got your usual choices, and if you want change, I'll give you a third choice, and the next year the people of Michigan will decide whether they want to make a change or not," he added.
His announcement comes at a pivotal time — with statewide debates over education, crime, road funding, and economic competitiveness.
"If you become governor, what's the first major issue you want to tackle, the one you think can unite voters?" I asked.
"We have got to get our children to read. 60% of third graders in this state do not read at grade level. That's the state of Michigan's own report this year," he said. "Don't change the curriculum every two years. These are the basics, and there's nothing about them that's Republican or Democratic."
"Finally, how do you want Michiganders to remember Mike Duggan, the mayor?" I asked.
"I'm a kid who grew up in Detroit, who remembered Detroit as a magical place with the neighborhoods, where beautiful people had jobs, and you came downtown at the holidays and saw Santa Claus on the 12th floor of Hudson's," he said. "People want to be here.115,000 people show up for a tree lighting with no incidents whatever.That's the kind of city we wanted to build.That's the kind of city we have in Detroit today.)
Duggan says the city is in good hands with Mayor-Elect Mary Sheffield, the current city council president. He said they worked hand-in-hand to get things done, and he believes that forward motion will continue under her leadership.
