In The Bag Before 11 p.m. ...

Af

ter arguably one of the most fitful starts a Detroit political campaign has faced in,

maybe forever, Mike Duggan's electoral victory in the Motor City signals that identity politics no longer trumps economic crisis.

Before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, 100 percent of precincts were reporting that Duggan had won the vote by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent for challenger Benny Napoleon.

Addressing supporters, Duggan expressed gratitude calling the past year “amazing.” He also congratulated Napoleon for executing a tough race that narrowed in the waning days as well as the Wayne County sheriff’s commitment to Detroit.

“When I started on this campaign, I was not under any illusion about the racial division in this country,” Duggan said, “and I said from the beginning that the only way I could get past it was to sit with you

and get to know you one by one.”

Duggan will be the first white mayor of Detroit since before the legendary Coleman Young took office in 1974.