Detroit mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield: 'I believe God had called me' to run

Detroit — Moments before Mary Sheffield officially declared she wanted to be Detroit's next mayor, she quoted Benjamin Mays, the influential Black educator who was Martin Luther King Jr.'s spiritual mentor.

"Every man and woman, every boy and girl, was born into this world to do something unique and distinctive," Sheffield told a crowd of supporters in December who gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 in Corktown. "And if he or she does not do it, then it will never be done.''

Sheffield, a fourth-generation Detroiter, told The Detroit News she has envisioned being Detroit's mayor as part of her unique path for several years now.

The 38-year-old said she began to seriously entertain the idea of running for the office after winning her third term on the Detroit City Council in 2021.




https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/09/detroit-mayor-mary-sheffield-profile-god-called-council-president/86241028007/