Mayoral candidate Fred Durhal III doesn't want Detroit to go backwards

District 7 Councilman Fred Durhal III said Wednesday at his mayoral announcement the city could be in a "vulnerable state" in the coming years post-Duggan.

Detroit City Council member Fred Durhal III announces his run for mayor. “One thing you can be sure of is that Durhal delivers,” he said on stage. Photo: Samuel Robinson

City Councilman and former State Rep. Fred Durhal III announced his candidacy for Detroit mayor Wednesday evening at a west side Boys & Girls Club.

Durhal acknowledged the city’s progress under Mayor Mike Duggan and said to build on it, leaders must bolster public safety efforts and the city’s relationship with Detroit Public Community Schools District.

His unscripted remarks, “No teleprompters, no notes,” he said, also touched on keeping young people in Detroit through jobs and public transportation.

“When we talk about Detroit being in a great place, we also have to understand we’re in a vulnerable state,” Durhal told reporters in a scrum after the event. “We can't afford to go backwards, so we have to make decisions that are going to be fiscally responsible.”

He leaned on his experience as a legislator in Lansing, where he represented Detroit in the state House from 2015-2019. In his speech, Durhal expressed pride in being a lifelong Democrat.