DETROIT – The 2021 Detroit mayoral election will take place Nov. 2, 2021 and one challenger is accusing incumbent mayor Mike Duggan of some dirty tactics.
Former Deputy Mayor and former president of the Detroit School Board Anthony Adams is blasting Duggan over refusing to debate ahead of the election. At the same time, the Duggan administration is accusing Adams of using hate speech.
Adams accused Duggan of being racists and took aim at Duggan’s Chief of Staff using sexist language while challenging Duggan to debate him.
After Duggan accused Adams of “hateful” and “divisive” speech, he said he wouldn’t be debating Adams during the campaign.
“This campaign is far from hate,” Adams said. “It’s about illuminating the truth.”
At a press conference Thursday, Adams accused Duggan of racism.
“They always try to paint a Black man as an angry Black man,” Adams said.
Adams, who was deputy mayor under former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, challenged Duggan to a debate using language that Duggan’s campaign manager Alexis Wiley found sexist, but stopped short of calling Adams sexist.
“Don’t hide behind the dark money PACs, don’t hide behind the skirt of your campaign manager, don’t hide behind your corporate partners,” Adams said. “Don’t hide behind your corporate partners that are allowing you to do what you’re doing to the community. Stand up on the stage. Be a man.”
Wiley responded Thursday afternoon and claimed Adams made their case for them.
“What does the fact that I’m a woman or what does my sex have anything to do with anything in this conversation?” Wiley asked. “That’s the kind of thing the mayor doesn’t want to give a platform to.”
Duggan did debate opponents in 2013 and 2017, but one of the big things here is that Duggan routed Adams in the August Primary, winning 72% of the vote. Adams won 10%. While debates are the best way to show candidates side-by-side for voters, it’s clear Duggan is doing some political math about what is at stake for him on the debate stage in a race that’s likely his to lose.
Adams said he wasn’t going to chase Duggan for a debate anymore, but he did invite him to several town halls.
More: Detroit news