Well, the candidates are set for the Fall Election cycle (primary coming up with a November general election) for the Detroit City Council, Mayor (yes again and don't ask, don't even ask, but let's just say that the fact that we're having 4 Mayoral Elections in a year is why voters will also be electing...), and City Charter Commission members. This election is pretty important because I think that this may be the last chance that the city has to get things right before getting left in the dust. Mayor David Bing, the victor in the special election, appears likely to be re-elected again in the fall (though there is at least one potentially strong candidate running) while its in the City Council that the change is most likely to come. More after the jump...
Mayor
David Bing, incumbent
Tom Barrow, accountant and 1989 Mayoral Candidate
David Bing beat a bunch of people in the special election and all the prominent city politicians decided not to challenge him again in the fall (with some, like Freeman Hendrix, actively helping his transition). Barrow, however, is listed as he made the run-off in 1989 and scored a surprisingly strong 44% against legendary Detroit Mayor Coleman Young. Since then Barrow has had problems with the IRS (which he claimed he has since won in Tax Court, but I've seen this stated nowhere but by Barrow himself on the Paul W. Smith show) and Barrow's biggest electoral success was literally 20 years ago. So chances are Bing gets re-elected.
City Council
Incumbents running for Re-election (rundown on successes, strengths, and weaknesses at http://www.freep.com/... but avoid the comments section as offensive jackasses have invaded) - Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel has declined to run again.
Kenneth Cockrel Jr. City Council President/ex-interm Mayor
Monica Conyers Council President Pro Tem/Wife of Congressman John
Kwame Kenyatta (not that Kwame)
Joanne Watson
Martha Reeves (yes, that Martha Reeves)
Barbra Rose-Collins (a former Congresswoman)
Alberta Tinsley-Talabi
Brenda Jones (former President of the Communication Workers local in Detroit)
Prominent Challengers (found in the sidebar at http://www.freep.com/... again note: not in the main article)
John Bennett - Detroit Police Officer and the gentleman who runs http://detroituncovered.com/
Gary Brown-ex-Deputy Detroit Police Chief and the man who filed the whistleblower law suit against Kilpatrick which ultimately led to the perjury conviction.
Jai-Lee Dearing - Restauranteur of the Bert's restaurants in Detroit who came just short of winning Council seats in 2001 and 2005.
Shaunteel Jenkins - Former chief of staff for the late city councilwoman Maryanne Mahaffney
Annivory Calvert - mother of State Representative Coleman Young Jr.
Charles Pugh - former Fox 2 news anchor
Andre Spivey - Pastor and member of the Wayne County Economic Development Corp. and the Brownfield Redevelopment Board.
James Tate - former Detroit Police spokesman.
There are at least 100 other candidates who's information I don't have.
Worth noting: Brown, Bennett, Spivey, and Jenkins have tried to run a slate by campaigning together.
re: the incumbents: The only incumbents that I can give any kind of thumbs up to are Cockrel, Kenyatta, and Brenda Jones. Monica Conyers is a disgrace both as a council woman (being a part of the Synargo investigation, killing the Cobo deal which will lost the city untold multitudes of business, etc.) and as a person (the "Shrek" outburst, getting in a bar fight just after getting elected, mocking councilman Kenyatta's hearing aid and rumors that he had cancer, etc.). Words can not describe how much Monica Conyers hurts Detroit with her position nor can words describe the contempt that I have for her.
Barbra Rose-Collins is best known for getting the council to break into song during the "veto overturn" attempt in the Cobo hearings (just do a You Tube search for "Onward Christian Soldiers Detroit" or something similar). She has also been talked to be the FBI over the Synargo sludge contract.
Reeves's difficulties are discussed in the link about incumbents provided, but she doesn't appear to have the knowledge necessary to do her job (not even knowing that the cities of Hamtramack and Highland Park are within the city limits but not part of Detroit). Joanne Watson is similar to Conyers but not nearly as known for it.
The Challengers:
I like the members of the Bennett, Brown, Jenkins, Spivey alliance that I know of as its members are a good mix of the reform minded (Bennett, Brown) and the progressive (Jenkins, who's work for the legedarily progressive Mahaffney should indict what type of council member she'd be). Deering is someone who's impressed me in previous runs for the council, and it would be helpful to have a council member who's actually had to operate a business in the city.
If I could get the best council out of the people currently running I'd say that Cockrel, Kenyatta, Jones, Deering, Brown, Jenkins, Bennett, and Spivey would be ideal. But I don't know enough about the other candidates to pick a 9th.
Also, the Detroit City Charter is being rewritten, and the members of the commission to rewrite it (which is an unpaid position) are also being elected but no names have appeared in the media so I can't venture any comments on the candidates.