UAW drops mayor's race surprise with Kinloch endorsement

There were questions when Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. initially removed posts announcing his endorsement from the UAW Region 1A. The campaign knew something bigger was coming days later.

Shawn Fain walks through the Michigan Democratic Party past supporters of Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. Photo: Samuel Robinson

The United Auto Worker’s endorsement of Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. for Detroit mayor turned heads last week with the president of the international organization wading into the city’s race for mayor.

A voicemail left to a UAW member reveals those close to City Council president Mary Sheffield and her mayoral campaign were initially uncertain whether the endorsement was legitimate.

The UAW’s endorsement of Kinloch is being viewed as a surprise to some given Sheffield’s family history. Sheffield’s grandfather, Horace Sheffield Jr., was a prominent voice in Detroit’s labor and civil rights movements.

Sheffield spent his career with the UAW dedicated to improving Black opportunity and representation in the trades and union leadership, according to Wayne State’s Walter P. Reuther Library. Sheffield helped stage the landmark River Rouge Plant strike in 1941, during which he pressed Black strikebreakers to leave the plant.

Kinloch is a former member of UAW Local 235, “and the son of a proud UAW family,” the organization said in its release. His father was a member of the same union.

After Kinloch’s announcement of his endorsement from UAW Region 1A was deleted from social media earlier this month, Horace Sheffield III, Sheffield’s father, reached out to at least one UAW official attempting to verify whether the endorsement was actually real.

Screenshot from Facebook.

Triumph Church member and volunteer for Kinloch’s campaign, Cedric Scott, alluded to the uncertainty from those close Sheffield’s campaign in a Facebook post last week.

“Welp. The UAW said what they said… so stop the rumors and politricks,” Scott said.