DETROIT — Detroiters will make a historic choice when they vote for mayor in the November general election, choosing between electing the city's first female leader and an active minister, which a city historian said hasn't happened for at least 125 years.

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, 38, and the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., 52, will go head-to-head in the Nov. 4 general election after Sheffield crushed her eight competitors in Tuesday's primary. She garnered 50.7% of the vote. Her 43,572 votes were higher than the combined total of her rivals. Kinloch received 17.3% of the total vote, or 14,893 votes.

The primary sets the stage for a showdown between Sheffield, a Detroit political veteran of 12 years, having been on the Detroit City Council since she was elected in 2013, and Kinloch, who has never held elected office before and is the senior pastor of Detroit-based megachurch Triumph Church.

Many Detroit voters said they want to see the last decade of progress under Mayor Mike Duggan spread deeper and wider under the city's next mayor, both geographically and demographically. Both Sheffield and Kinloch have pledged to do more to support the city's neighborhoods.

Latwaina and Stephen Kelley, both of whom run Detroit nonprofits, are Sheffield supporters.

“I believe in her vision to keep improving the city," said Stephen Kelley, 53, who runs Chosen Ndetroit. "It's not just about big corporations for her. It's about helping people."

But it'll be up to voters to decide between the candidate with more than a decade of political experience or the political neophyte to replace Duggan, who is running as an independent for governor. Sheffield has pledged to work with churches to create more economic development in the city if she's elected and do more to reduce the city's high taxes. Kinloch has pledged to build 10,000 affordable housing units.

"We need leadership that is ready, that is equipped and prepared with a clear plan to continue the progress that we've made," Sheffield said Tuesday night at her primary watch party. "We still have far to go to build a Detroit that is more equitable, more just and truly safe for all. But I say to you tonight, we can rise higher. And as your next mayor, we will rise."

In 2013, Sheffield was the youngest person elected to the Detroit City Council at the age of 26 and has been on the council since then, serving three terms. She represents District 5, which covers parts of the city's east and west sides and a portion of downtown.

Kinloch said the city needs someone not "beholden" to corporate interests and with a fresh perspective to continue the city's momentum.

On late Wednesday morning, he criticized Sheffield's tenure on the City Council in an interview on WJR-AM's "All Talk with Kevin Dietz" radio show. He questioned how voters could expect her to solve problems like affordable housing when she hasn't made significant progress as a legislative leader working with Duggan's administration.

“Until we reach the whole town, we have not done nearly enough,” Kinloch said at his Tuesday night primary party. “I didn’t enter this race to chase power. I came to serve with a purpose. If we want a city that shines, we cannot ignore what’s in the shadows. If we want Detroit to rise, we cannot celebrate billions in investment downtown, but poverty in the neighborhoods.”

Alisa Sanders, who attended Kinloch's Tuesday night party, said she supports the pastor because he knows hardship. She wore a white jacket to his party that bore the name “Mothers Keeping Boots on the Ground,” an advocacy group she and Tabitha Nahabedian started after their adult children were murdered. Their criminal cases remain unresolved.

“He knows what it is like to have gas, lights and water cut off,” Sanders said. “He believes in housing and education.”

Fundraising

Leading up to Tuesday's primary, Sheffield was the clear frontrunner in fundraising and polling. She raised just over $807,000 this year, according to public reports filed in July. Kinloch raised a little more than $409,000, according to Wayne County campaign finance records.

Sheffield's big financial lead is partly due to the strong backing from donors such as developers and unions. The Deldin Law PAC based in Grosse Pointe Farms contributed $30,000 to her campaign, while Arn Tellem, vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons, gave $8,300. Eliezer Torgow, CEO of The Sterling Group, contributed $2,500. Samuel L. Jackson, the actor, even donated $5,000.

Sheffield has managed to get hundreds of small donations, ranging from $25 to $150, but Kinloch's money came primarily from small donors who often gave between $25 to $150.

Each candidate has a compelling personal story.

Sheffield is a fourth-generation Detroiter, and her family has a long history of civil rights advocacy. Her grandfather, Horace Sheffield Jr., was a noted labor activist in the United Auto Workers union. Her father, the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, is executive director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations and pastor of Detroit's New Destiny Christian Fellowship.

“Detroit, we made this moment together," Sheffield said Tuesday night. "We claimed it together, and, Detroit, I believe that our best days are ahead of us.”

Sheffield, a Wayne State graduate who previously worked as a program specialist for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office before being elected to the council, said the primary win belongs to every boy or girl told to “dream small,” every neighborhood where people feel left behind, every senior who “paved the way” and every college student who wants to stay in the city.

Many at her primary watch party were confident hours before the race was called, with periodic chants of “Mayor Sheffield“ and “first woman mayor” from the crowd.

Childhood poverty

Kinloch has been open about his challenging childhood and the obstacles his family faced. At the age of 5, in 1979, Kinloch's family was living in an abandoned home on the city's west side. He was often hungry, he said.

"There is a deep shame that comes with that kind of poverty," Kinloch told The Detroit News in an earlier interview.

He started ministering at age 14, under the tutelage of the Rev. Robert Smith Jr. at the city’s New Bethel Baptist Church. In 1998, he became pastor at Triumph Church on the city's west side, where the membership had declined to fewer than 50 people. The Detroit-based church has more than 40,000 members across a number of campuses. Kinloch also was an autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers union.

Kinloch said he will remain active at Triumph Church if elected. That would make him the first working minister to hold that office since at least the 20th and 21st centuries, said Dan Austin, the creator of the Historic Detroit website, who has researched the city's history for nearly two decades. Detroit has had mayors starting in 1824.

Faith's role in the election

Faith will likely be a key issue in the lead-up to the November election.

Both candidates vow that their administrations will work with churches that have nonprofits with track records in neighborhood development and community support to explore ways to create more opportunities.

But they differ in a narrative Kinloch has pushed about "two Detroits" — one that's benefited from the city's rebound and the rest of the city that hasn't.

Kinloch said he wants to end the "tale of two cities" track he insists the city remains on.

"The people in this city want to see this city come back," Kinloch said as he cast his ballot Tuesday morning. "They want to see the city thrive. They just want to be able to be included in that and knowing that they have somebody on the other side of that door that's going to show that that's going to happen is what my candidacy is all about."

But Sheffield rejected the Kinloch narrative of "two Detroits" ― essentially downtown, Midtown and Corktown versus the rest of the city.

"My message was very clear today: We are one city," Sheffield told The News Tuesday night. "No matter where I travel throughout the city, from east to west, we all have the same issues. We want safe neighborhoods. We want affordable housing. We want access to quality education.

"But I do believe that our neighborhoods need more investment without a doubt. We are going to elevate issues and ensure that we're bringing more attention to our communities."

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(Staff Writer Jennifer Chambers and Aya Fayad contributed.)

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