2009 Detroit mayoral special election

← 2005

May 5, 2009 (2009-05-05)

2009 →


Candidate	Dave Bing	Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
Party	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan
Popular vote	49,054	44,770
Percentage	52%	48%

Mayor before election

Kenneth Cockrel Jr.

Elected Mayor

Dave Bing

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The Detroit mayoral special election of 2009 took place on May 5, 2009. It was a special election to fill the remainder of the term of Kwame Kilpatrick who had resigned as mayor.

This special election was mandated by Detroit's City Charter in order to determine who will serve out the remaining months in the term of former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned in September 2008.

Incumbent mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who was previously president of the Detroit City Council, had become acting mayor upon Kilpatrick's resignation.

Candidates

Incumbent mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who as president of the Detroit City Council became acting mayor upon Kilpatrick's resignation, was seeking reelection. Other candidates included Dave Bing, a community leader and former NBA professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons, Freman Hendrix, former deputy mayor and a mayoral candidate in 2005, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, and others.^[1]

Results

Primary

Dave Bing and incumbent mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. won the top two spots in the special primary on February 24 and proceeded to contest the special general election on May 5.

Primary election results^[2]
Candidate	Votes	%
Dave Bing	26,337	28.82
Ken Cockrel, Jr. (incumbent)	24,677	27.00
Freman Hendrix	21,208	23.21
Warren Evans	9,193	10.06
Coleman Young II	3,744	4.10
Sharon McPhail	2,565	2.81
Nicholas Hood III	2,077	2.27
Jerroll Sanders	336	0.37
D. Etta Wilcoxon	309	0.34
Brenda Sanders	199	0.22
Donald Bradley	157	0.17
Duane Montgomery	152	0.17
Write-In	136	0.15
Stanley Michael Christmas	103	0.11
Joseph Holt	101	0.11
Frances Culver	87	0.10

General election

Bing won this election with 52% of the vote and was sworn in as mayor on May 11.^[3]

General election results^[4]
Candidate		Votes	%	±
Dave Bing		49,054	52%	+23%
Ken Cockrel, Jr. (incumbent)		44,770	48%	+22%

References

^ "18 Mayoral Candidates for February 2009 Special Primary Election | What's Happening in Detroit". Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
^ "City of Detroit, Wayne County, February 24, 2009 Special Election" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2012.
^ "Dave Bing Being Sworn in Monday as Detroit Mayor - ABC News". Archived from the original on May 12, 2009.
^ Channel 7 Action News

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