Detroit garnered national attention on Election Day of 2016 as the country waited for Michigan’s vote count to roll in. And holding up that vote count, it turned out, were results yet to come in from the City of Detroit.
So this year’s City Clerk race has heated up with a field of challengers vying for Janice Winfrey’s job.
On Wednesday Heaster Wheeler, a former firefighter, assistant County Executive, lobbyist and Detroit Branch NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Director threw his hat into the ring outside of the Cafe Con Leche coffee shop in New Center.
“The most recent election in Detroit, and across the country, had people questioning the value of their vote. That is unacceptable. Your vote is your voice,” said Wheeler. “The impetus behind this effort is to ensure that everyone is empowered to have their voice heard.”
Flanked by supporters, Wheeler talked about how he wanted to make voter registration easier, and get results out faster.
“We don’t have to be the maverick in this country, we can be the model across this particular country. We’re going to make voter registration so user friendly it is not a novel idea that you graduate high school from the 12th grade and you get your high school diploma that you also walk across the stage and get your voter registration card,” said Wheeler.
A poll in March showed that the current City Clerk is vulnerable, with only the support of 34 percent of respondents. At the time, Wheeler polled at 7 percent. 21 percent of respondents were “unsure.” Since then, Garlin Gilchrist II, who was not captured in the March Denno poll, has officially entered the race.
The final filing day for Detroit candidates is April 25 and the election is November 7.
This is part of an ongoing story stream. The previous post can be found here.
