Articia Bomer is no stranger to Detroit voters.
She ran for mayor in 2016, state representative in 2018, Congress in 2020, governor in 2022, and Wayne County sheriff in 2024. She lost each race.
Now the outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump says she wants to “make elections great again” and is launching a campaign to unseat longtime City Clerk Janice Winfrey.
Bomer, who describes herself as a “Trumplican” rather than a Republican, acknowledges she has a tough road ahead, but she says she has something to offer that Detroiters want most — honesty.
“I’m probably the poorest candidate, but I’m the most honest candidate,” Bomer tells Metro Times. “That’s what matters in my heart.”
Bomer says she initially considered another run for governor before supporters urged her to run for city clerk. She believes Winfrey has had a difficult time in office, particularly after the death of her husband, and mishandled elections. Bomer says Detroiters need a fresh start.
“With all respect for Winfrey, she’s been through a lot,” Bomer says. “Let’s let her grieve properly.”
Bomer’s campaign is centered on election security and accessibility. She alleges that past elections in Detroit were tainted by irregularities, citing her own experiences observing vote counting.
“I was at the TCF Center in 2020,” she says, referring to the facility now known as Huntington Place where Detroit’s ballots are counted. “I saw ballots getting jammed, machines being sprayed with chemicals, and people overriding the system.”
Despite her claims, no credible evidence has been found to prove the election was stolen from Trump, who lost in Michigan in 2020. Still, says she wants to improve voting integrity in Detroit and supports voter ID laws to “make sure no one is stealing IDs and voting.”
“If it were up to me, I’d do hand-counting,” Bomer says. “We need a bulletproof election.”
But not everything about her platform is about Trump’s election claims. She says she also wants to make ballots more accessible by incorporating braille for the visually impaired, foreign languages for immigrants, and photos of candidates next to their names. With Detroit’s high illiteracy rate and other factors, Bomer believes some voters are casting a ballot for the wrong candidates.
“Maybe they can’t read, have mental issues, or got high and smoked a blunt,” Bomer says. “I want them to see the candidates’ faces.”
Bomer embraces her support for Trump, but insists she isn’t bound to party labels.
“Republicans cheat as well and are very mean to Democrats,” she says. “Democrats are the ones who voted for me in the past.”
Still, Bomer believes Trump is misunderstood, and she praises his leadership and his outreach to Black voters.
“He has a heart,” Bomer says. “He saw that Democrats aren’t helping Black people. … We need to get our country back in order.”
To that end, Bomer has helped organize Trump rallies.
Her positions are a mix of conservative with a dash of some progressive views. She is pro-life and has 10 children, eight of whom are adults. Three serve in the U.S. Army, while others work in the auto industry and the nonprofit sector.
At the same time, she says she stands with the LGBTQ community, a stance that puts her at odds with many in the Republican Party.
“A lot of Republicans judge them, but a lot of them are my friends,” she says. “Hate the sin, not the sinner.”
Bomer’s path to politics has been unconventional. She was homeless two years ago, staying in Monroe County when she couldn’t find shelter in Wayne County. While there, she rang the bell for the Salvation Army.
She describes herself as a woman of faith who wants to help others. She regularly buys meals for the homeless at McDonald’s, where she says she “got my very first start.”
Now Bomer is running her campaign out of her home on the city’s west side, where she and her children sleep on inflated mattresses.
Despite the long odds, Bomer says she is determined to win.
“I’ve been behind the scenes for years trying to make this country great,” she says. “I’m a good-hearted person. I’m an honest person, and I don’t have a criminal record. I’m not going to let anyone tell me I can’t make it. With God, all things are possible.”
