Mike Duggan's Independent Bid Collapses Amid Anti-Trump Surge and Fundraising Challenges

Mike Duggan’s daring play to upend the two-party political system collided with anti-Trump momentum and, he said Thursday, a struggle to fundraise nationally to keep pace with a looming deluge of outside spending from Democratic and Republican forces.

Running for governor as an independent was always going to be a daunting task for the former Democrat and ex-Detroit mayor. He abruptly ended his campaign eight weeks before the filing deadline rather than try to make up ground. Why? And why now?

Duggan saw no path to victory against growing Democratic headwinds he did not think would dissipate in 2026. A recent survey conducted in late April and early May showed Jocelyn Benson consolidating support among Duggan-curious Democrats and leading him by 11 percentage points and Republican John James by 5 points months after they were in a dead heat.

In recent days, Duggan and his campaign manager, son Ed, studied the political environment, the poll numbers and came to the same conclusion following “intense” conversations with people in Michigan and elsewhere. Voters may be unhappy with the Democratic Party, he said, but its candidates are surging due to anger over Trump’s Iran war and gas prices.

Read more here:

#politicalsystem #independentcandidate #Michiganelections #antiTrump #campaignchallenges