(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/03/2025) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan became a hot topic during a Saturday forum of Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) chair candidates. Specifically, candidate Curtis Hertel Jr. said Democrats "have to be willing to punch him in the mouth, and say exactly who he is."  

"The idea that Duggan is trying to run as an independent is absolutely wrong," Hertel said. "We have seen people before that run populist campaigns paid for by billionaires. That's what Mike Duggan is."  

In early December, Duggan announced he'd be running for governor in the 2026 election cycle as an independent. Several pundits saw this as a calculated move by Duggan, separating himself from a possibly competitive Democratic primary, as well as giving himself extended time to court centrist and non-party-loyalist voters.  

Saturday's MDP chair candidate forum, which was hosted by the Washtenaw County Democratic Party in Ann Arbor, demonstrated how building an anti-Duggan strategy will be on the next party leader's to-do list.  

"The idea that he actually…stood up at the Democratic National Committee, and showed up every time that the Vice President was here, and now wants to demonize this party using right-wing tropes is absolutely ridiculous," Hertel said.  

The commentary came after an audience question to the panel from Vincent ELIE, a 2020 and 2022 Democratic precinct delegate from Chelsea. He asked the chair candidates how they would deal with Duggan's "desertion" from the party.  

Lavora Barnes, the outgoing chair of the MDP, announced less than two weeks after the November elections that she would not be seeking a return to the party's top leadership post. The job will be up for election during the party's spring convention on Feb. 22.  

In order to vote, someone must be an MPD member for at least 30 days prior to the convention, meaning residents have until Jan. 23 to become a member and vote for the party's next chair.  

The chair candidates include East Lansing Democrat Hertel, a former state senator and the Governor's past legislative affairs director.  

Hertel led candidate recruitment and fundraising operations for the Michigan Senate Democratic Fund during the 2022 election cycle, when Democrats won their first majority in the state Senate in forty years.  

His opponents include Mark Ludwig – chair of the MDP's Rural Caucus – and Al Williams, the Detroit-based president of the African American Leadership Institute. Williams said he's what one would call a "die-hard Coleman Young Democrat."  

Answering Elie's question, Williams said "Mike Duggan is the fox in the hen house, and we should never have let him get this close."  

Williams believes Duggan used the Democratic label to get elected as Wayne County prosecutor in 2000.  

"To let him and his son into the hen house, take all of our data, all of our relationships, and then walk away with it…I'm upset about that," Williams said. "He can't come to me asking for nothing. He can't be my friend after that. I feel betrayed, absolutely betrayed."  

Williams said if he's the next MDP chair, Democrats will win in 2026 and put together a strategy to beat Duggan.  

MIRS reached out to the Duggan campaign for a response to Friday's comments in Ann Arbor. MIRS received the following quote:  

"And they wonder why so many people are tired of the two parties?"  

What Else Were The MDP Chair Candidates Calling For?  

During the event, Hertel proposed building "regional donor tables" for the MDP, where donors could hear pitched ideas and races where their money might be invested.  

He described a need for year-round Democratic organizers working outside of election season, as well as a need to stop bringing in out-of-state staff to run campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts. 

"We gotta stop this whole 'people don't matter until it's September of an election year…' They see through it. We're losing that connection by not being there on the ground for the entire time," he said. 

Meanwhile, Ludwig described the party as having a universal negligence problem, affecting members and Democratic clubs.  

"Our employees lack direction and our party officers are notably absent from the media or even our county club events," he said. "Our fundraising base and our volunteer base are being cannibalized by third parties – third parties that cannot coordinate with us, and that don't always have our best interests at heart as they go out there and…grind the X for their particular issues."  

Williams talked about doing membership card checks on Democratic lawmakers, not wanting candidates to ask for their support if they're giving tax breaks to corporations, cozying up to DTE and not standing with Black women and labor.  

He also illustrated the party's own issues with racial separation, like by having two separate youth groups when Mark Brewer was chair: a majorly White youth caucus and a basically all Black members' "Young Dems."  

"Don't carry the D in the state Legislature or the state Senate and not carry the Democratic card in your wallet," he said. "We're bringing the membership cards back, and you better have one in your wallet."  

In the end, Ludwig took a swing at Hertel, referring to him as a "creature of Lansing." He expressed that becoming the next MDP chair should not be Hertel's "consolation prize" for losing in the 7th Congressional district to U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) last year.