Detroit — Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ended his independent campaign for governor Thursday, resetting the race for Michigan’s highest political office.
“We don’t feel like there is a path forward. And I never ran to be a spoiler,” Duggan said Thursday afternoon at a press conference at Huntington Place.
Duggan said he no longer felt good about his chances of winning in November because of shifting “huge national headwinds” swinging in the favor of Democrats and struggles to establish a national fundraising base beyond Michigan supporters.
“What we’re doing today is facing reality,” Duggan said.
His decision came 23 weeks ahead of the general election and nine days after the Detroit Regional Chamber, a group that endorsed Duggan, released a poll showing him in third place in a potential November matchup behind U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat from Detroit.
Duggan, a former Democrat, said he would not get involved in endorsing a candidate in the primary. Benson faces a primary challenge from Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
“If there are candidates in this state that take up the message of fixing the schools, fixing affordable housing, getting the jobs in the future by working together, I’m going to be open to endorsing them in the fall campaign,” Duggan said at the press conference. “So I’m going to be watching, along with a whole lot of my supporters in the hopes that it proves that the campaign made a lasting difference.”
In announcing his decision to drop out Thursday, Duggan cited growing anger and polarization over the war in Iran and rising gas prices, which he says make it difficult for his message of unity and bipartisanship to break through.
“We knew the Independent route was filled with challenge,” Duggan wrote in a letter to supporters posted online at 11 a.m. “Even against those odds, the excitement for real change carried this campaign upward for more than a year. In every one of the 5-10 town halls a week I was holding across Michigan, we hosted Democrat, Republican and Independent neighbors all mixed together in lively and positive discussions. It was a remarkable experience.”
But Duggan said in the letter that things changed sharply this spring after Republican President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. The repercussions, Duggan indicated, turned the advantage toward his former party and made it far more difficult for his message of bipartisanship to break through.
”Democrats (and many Independents) were unified in anger as Trump’s war in Iran dragged on and gas prices rose above $5 a gallon,” he wrote. “On May 5, the Democratic State Senate candidate in Saginaw won 60% of the vote in a seat Republicans thought would be very competitive. Against the Democratic headwinds, we worked twice as hard.”
Decision to drop out comes days after UAW candidate forum
Duggan’s announcement came the week before the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, where the former mayor was to be given center stage for touting his candidacy at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Likewise, Duggan had participated in a forum for gubernatorial candidates on Monday hosted by the United Auto Workers.
During that forum, Duggan had some tense exchanges with Benson on political fundraising, but Duggan vowed that a “bright future” was ahead for Michigan.
At Thursday’s press conference, Duggan acknowledged he and his son, Ed, who is his campaign manager, began assessing the viability of his candidacy on Saturday, two days before the UAW forum. But he said he participated in the forum with Benson and Swanson before deciding to drop out.
“We were still debating on Monday” whether to drop out, Duggan said.
In a statement Thursday, Benson thanked the former three-term Detroit mayor “for what he brought to this race and for his years of service to Detroit.”
“At a time when politics can feel divided and cynical, we need more civility, more listening, and more people willing to work together to move our state forward,” Benson said. “I welcome Mayor Duggan’s ideas, his supporters, and everyone who believes Michigan’s future is bigger than division — and that it can be a place where anyone can afford to live, work, and thrive. We may not always agree on everything, but we share a commitment to building a stronger Michigan. And that work continues in this campaign.”
The former Detroit mayor enjoyed considerable support in southeast Michigan and had picked up a host of endorsements from union and business groups, like the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“We respect Mike’s decision and are grateful for his decades of public service,” said Tim Daman, president and CEO of the Lansing chamber. “We wish him well, and we hope his voice and leadership continues to shape Michigan’s future in whatever capacity he chooses.
“As the field of candidates moves forward, we issue a challenge and a call to action: Michigan’s voters deserve a serious, substantive conversation about the issues that will define this state’s future. We hope the remaining candidates will rise to that occasion.”
In his decision, Duggan cited the challenge to raise funds in an environment in which Republicans and Democrats are so motivated.
“Being down 11 points in May wouldn’t discourage me — I’ve been down worse than that in the past,” Duggan wrote, “But this time it’s compounded by our inability to build serious national fundraising support. Michigan donors have been extraordinarily generous in supporting this campaign – 94% of my donors come from Michigan. We raised more in-state than any other candidate.
“But governor’s campaigns are today funded overwhelmingly from well-established networks of national party money, which is why I’ve been all across America meeting with national groups to try to build a competitive fundraising network for Independents. There is much interest, but we’ve finally concluded the national fundraising for these groups is too much in its infancy to be of great help to our race in 2026.
“If we were even in the polls and behind in fundraising, we have a path to winning. If we were behind in the polls and even in fundraising, we have a path. But we’re behind in both. It’s just not right to ask our volunteers, faith leaders, unions, elected officials, and donors to continue in a campaign that, in my heart, I no longer feel good about our chances to win.”
A nonprofit organization called Put Progress First had spent about $14 million backing Duggan’s campaign. The group didn’t have to disclose where its money came from.
The Republican Governors Association used Duggan’s campaign demise to attack Benson, the perceived frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 4 primary against Swanson.
“Mike Duggan is right on one thing: Democrat leadership is not serving Michiganders. Education is in decline, housing costs are rising, and young people are leaving in droves,” RGA spokesman Kollin Crompton said in a statement. “Jocelyn Benson represents toxic partisan politics to its core. … Michigan families deserve a governor who is willing to fight for change, not continue the decline Michigan has faced for years.”
nfinley@detroitnews.com
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Staff Writer Ben Warren contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mike Duggan ends independent bid for Michigan governor
Reporting by Nolan Finley and Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
