Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is trying to make history in politics as the first third-party candidate to win a Michigan governor’s race. After leaving the Democratic Party late last year, Duggan now identifies as an Independent.
So it was an odd sight this week to see Duggan smiling big as he raised the Pride flag to fly above Detroit City Hall.
The hoisting of this flag is not some ancient Detroit rite that no mayor could pass up. The first time it happened was in 2018, under Duggan.
Then Detroit Police Chief James Craig was the first to raise the flag, back then at Hart Plaza. He painted the act as the dawn of a new day. And maybe it was, back then.
“We’re working to build trust and respect within our ranks so that the LGBTQ community knows its concerns will always be addressed,” Craig said.
Stephanie White, then director of Equality Michigan, said the flag-raising meant “that all of us are welcome here. All of us are part of this city.”
“And really it, to me, it feels like a cherry on top of the cake. So I don’t want to say the work is done,” White added. “The work is never done.”
That sentiment—the work is never done—gave Duggan an out. Do it once, show that all are welcome in Detroit. Then get back to work building a city for all Detroiters. If the work is never done, best to get started.
Instead, hoisting the Pride flag has become an annual ritual in Detroit. Even in 2025, long after it lost any currency.
Right now, Duggan needs to be establishing himself as a different type of Democrat. He needs to offer a choice, not virtue signaling. He’s a chief executive, not an influencer. He’s not photogenic, so he sticks to substantial matters. Duggan is the man in plaid, with the body of a dad. Be that.
A no-frills candidacy would be the move. Instead, Duggan believes he can drape himself in all the accoutrements of a Democrat, without the toxic stain of the party label. It won’t work.
Duggan is not an Independent, he’s a trans-Independent. Raising the Pride flag, at this late date, to absolutely no fanfare—The Detroit News story does not even quote the mayor—is hustling backwards.
The whole sales pitch is that Duggan is a doer, not a talker, not a politician. So why is he acting like one?
This week’s episode shows the real truth: Duggan is a chameleon. He’s a million different people from one day to the next.
Leadership means saying no, sometimes. But when it comes to his fellow Democrats, Duggan has never passed that test, the way Bill Clinton did in 1992 with his “Sista Souljah moment.”
Democrats could hardly find the White House back then, it had been so long since they held it. Clinton won it by saving his crazy for after the election, not using it as his campaign platform. That’s what leaders can do. They can save a party from drowning.
When his party sprinted further left, Duggan never pulled it back to the middle. He hoisted whatever flag was put in front of him, and said whatever words he needed to maintain power.
I spoke last month to the Farmington-area Republicans. Before the speech, two men pulled me aside and asked about Duggan. They’d become comfortable visiting Detroit in recent years; is Duggan legit, they asked?
In saying no, I cited 25 years of Duggan’s history: The turnarounds that were not turnarounds. The miracles that never happened. The comeback that never came back.
I talked about the longtime wife Duggan abandoned, followed by the lifelong political party he ditched after a loss. That history shows Duggan to be a leaver, not a leader.
Today, all I would have to do is pull up a picture. You’re telling me that guy isn’t really a Democrat?
James David Dickson is host of the Enjoyer Podcast. Join him in conversation on X @downi75.
