Mike Duggan quits independent bid, resetting Michigan race

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ended his independent campaign for Michigan governor Thursday, saying shifting political winds, anger over the war in Iran, and soaring gas prices have made it harder for his message of unity to land. He also cited difficulty b

Detroit — Mike Duggan had been preparing to step onto another stage for his independent run. Then, at 11 a.m. Thursday, he posted a letter to supporters ending the campaign for Michigan’s highest office.

Duggan said he no longer felt good about his chances to win. pointing to shifting political conditions and what he described as struggles to build a national fundraising base for an independent bid. The timing matters: his decision landed 23 weeks before the November general election. and nine days after the Detroit Regional Chamber released a poll showing him in third place in a potential matchup behind U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat from Detroit.

In his letter. Duggan traced his optimism back to the campaign’s first momentum—he said his approach of unity and bipartisanship played out in 5 to 10 town halls each week across Michigan. where he brought together Democrat. Republican and Independent neighbors for “lively and positive discussions.” He called those gatherings “a remarkable experience. ” writing that the Independent route came with challenges but that the excitement for change carried the effort upward for more than a year.

Then Duggan said spring brought a sharp turn. He tied his assessment directly to the war in Iran and the gasoline prices that followed, arguing those forces have widened anger and hardened political lines—making it harder for his message of bipartisanship to break through.

“Democrats (and many Independents) were unified in anger as Trump’s war in Iran dragged on and gas prices rose above $5 a gallon,” he wrote.

He pointed to a specific example he said reflected the shift in political advantage: on May 5. the Democratic State Senate candidate in Saginaw won 60% of the vote in a seat Republicans thought would be competitive. Duggan said against what he called “Democratic headwinds,” his campaign worked “twice as hard.”.

The decision also arrived amid a tight stretch of public visibility. Duggan’s announcement came the week before the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. where he was scheduled to be given center stage to tout his candidacy. He had also participated in a forum for gubernatorial candidates on Monday hosted by the United Auto Workers.

Despite those efforts, Duggan said the political environment made both his message and his financial path harder to sustain. He said he still believes the challenge would not have discouraged him if only one factor were dragging—writing that “Being down 11 points in May wouldn’t discourage me – I’ve been down worse than that in the past.” But he said the situation was different this time because it compounded his polling trouble with fundraising limits.

He described Michigan-based donor support as significant, saying that 94% of his donors come from Michigan. Duggan also said his campaign raised more in-state than any other candidate.

Still. he argued that gubernatorial campaigns are “today funded overwhelmingly from well-established networks of national party money. ” which is why he said he has been traveling across America to meet with national groups in an effort to build a fundraising network for Independents. He said there is “much interest. ” but that national fundraising for those groups is still too early to provide meaningful help for 2026.

That combination—being behind in both polls and fundraising—is what he said made the choice unavoidable. Duggan wrote that volunteers, faith leaders, unions, elected officials, and donors should not be asked to continue in a campaign he no longer believes has a real path to victory.

He ended with a blunt counterweight to his earlier rallies and town hall optimism. In his view, the campaign was once moving upward—but the new conditions changed the math. “We’re behind in both. ” he wrote. adding that while there is a path if they were even in the polls and behind in fundraising. and another if they were behind in the polls and even in fundraising. “it’s just not right” to ask supporters to press on under the current circumstances.

This is a developing story. The final picture of the reshaped Michigan governor’s race will become clearer as candidates adjust to Duggan’s exit and as the campaign moves closer to November.

Mike Duggan independent campaign Michigan governor race Detroit Regional Chamber poll John James Jocelyn Benson UAW forum Mackinac Policy Conference war in Iran gas prices fundraising