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Fred Durhal III
Newly minted Mayor Mary Sheffield has appointed former Councilman Fred Durhal III as the city’s director of state governmental affairs to deal with Lansing lawmakers on behalf of the city.
Durhal, 41, who served on City Council from December 2021 to December 2025, ran last year for mayor but lost in the primary. He later endorsed Sheffield, who defeated Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Durhal, who served two terms in the state House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019 and held leadership roles in Lansing, tells Deadline Detroit that he’ll bounce back and forth from Detroit to Lansing, working on policy and strategy, monitoring legislation, and reporting back to the mayor.
“In the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing an agenda,” he said. “The mayor has already stated she is very focused on ensuring that we deliver resources from Lansing and that we have strong relationships there, whether that’s property tax reform or generating more revenue for Detroit and its residents to help rebuild neighborhoods.”
After he lost in the mayoral primary last August, his name surfaced as a possible Democratic candidate in 2026 for the 12th Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat Rashida Tlaib.
But on Thursday, he said he has no intention of running and plans to focus on serving the residents of Detroit in his new role.
