From the heart of Detroit to the suburbs stretching across southeastern Michigan, Wayne County is a patchwork of neighborhoods, identities and political priorities.
In Detroit, some residents are questioning whether elected officials are listening to their communities. In Dearborn, conflicts in the Middle East have left some voters frustrated with both major political parties.
Politically, however, Wayne County is easier to understand. It's solidly Democratic and hasn't supported a Republican candidate for governor since 1978. With more than 1.7 million residents, accounting for about 17.5% of Michigan's population, the county plays a crucial role in statewide elections.
That will be especially true this year as Michigan, long considered a swing state, is home to a closely contested U.S. Senate race.
With control of the Senate at stake, the race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers has drawn national attention. Wayne County's large Democratic electorate will be important to the outcome, but the concerns shaping voters' decisions differ considerably across its communities.
Detroit residents question political representation
Driving through Detroit, murals across the city reflect its culture, history and a sense of community.
The city is the heart of Wayne County, and it has faced difficult times. In 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for municipal bankruptcy. Its automotive industry has shed tens of thousands of jobs over the decades, and its population has fallen from a 1950 peak of 1.85 million to about 650,000. More recently, the city has experienced modest population growth.
Black residents make up about 75% of Detroit's population. For decades, the city's Black community has pushed for greater political representation and investment in its neighborhoods.
But some residents question whether elected officials are listening.
Jeremiah Wheeler, a chair member of Black Convergence, a coalition that advocates for Detroit's Black community, says too many residents feel disconnected from the people representing them.
“We just feel a deep disconnect from the representation that we’re paying for to our elected officials,” Wheeler said.
For Wheeler, that disconnect is evident in issues he believes haven't received enough attention, including housing affordability, health care and disability access.
“Can a young adult work minimum wage and still have a place to live?” he asked.
The economic disparities extend beyond Detroit.
According to the Detroit Regional Chamber, significant racial gaps in homeownership and income persist across the Detroit metropolitan region.
In 2024, 80% of white households owned their homes, compared with 48% of Black households, a 32-percentage-point difference.
Income disparities show a similar divide. Asian households had the highest median income at about $121,500, followed by white households at nearly $87,000. Black households had the lowest median income among those groups, at about $46,400.
For Wheeler, addressing those concerns takes more than promises during election season. He wants candidates who are willing to speak openly about the issues affecting Detroit's Black community and remain engaged after votes are counted.
“We’ve been used. Our Blackness has been used. Our labor has been used. We’ve been cast as second class,” Wheeler said. “You need to be unafraid to speak up for Black issues, and you can’t be afraid to say the word Black either.”
Those expectations have influenced how Wheeler approaches the Senate race.
In September, Wheeler and other members of his coalition met with El-Sayed to discuss 30 issues and policy demands.
Wheeler says about 65% of those demands were subsequently incorporated into El-Sayed's THRIVE policy agenda, which outlines proposals addressing housing, economic opportunity, health care and other concerns affecting Michigan's Black communities.
“Because [El-Sayed] agreed to those things, I’m rocking with him,” Wheeler said. “I think that’s how everybody should approach elected officials: this is what I need you to do. We got a plan. We got an agenda. Just do what we need you to do.”
Wheeler's support illustrates one of the challenges facing candidates in Detroit: convincing voters that their concerns will remain a priority beyond Election Day.
Dearborn and concerns abroad
A short drive west of Detroit brings a different set of political concerns into focus.
In Dearborn, where about 55% of residents identify as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, conflicts overseas carry deeply personal consequences for many families.
For some residents, the wars and political instability affecting the Middle East have become central to how they evaluate American political leaders.
From Yemen to Lebanon, conflicts across the region have affected people with family and personal connections to those countries.
“Most of these people have connections to areas affected by war, like Yemen,” said Osama Siblani, the Lebanese American publisher of The Arab American News.
For those residents, American foreign policy is more than an abstract campaign issue.
But economic concerns remain important as well.
“Islamophobia is on the rise, and of course, the economy is not doing well,” Siblani said. “You have to remember that our community here is more business-oriented and people are suffering like the rest of the country.”
Concerns about the Middle East and the United States' role in regional conflicts have also affected Dearborn's political landscape.
The city's recent presidential election results illustrate how quickly political loyalties can shift.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden carried Dearborn by a wide margin. Four years later, frustration with the Biden administration's handling of the war in Gaza contributed to a political shift.
In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won Dearborn with about 43% of the vote, compared with 36% for Democrat Kamala Harris.
For Siblani, the shift reflected frustration with Democrats and a belief that the party had failed to address the community's concerns.
“[Harris] never visited our community, and she did not address our concerns,” Siblani said.
Trump's outreach offered an alternative for some voters who were disappointed with the Democratic ticket. But Siblani says that support has since turned to frustration.
“[Trump] lied to them. He said there would be no wars, that he would be fair, and that he would include everybody. None of that happened.”
The changing political attitudes in Dearborn illustrate how foreign policy can influence voting decisions, even in a county that remains overwhelmingly Democratic.
Issues closer to home
Sami Khaldi, president of Dearborn's Democratic Club, says frustration with the country's direction extends beyond foreign policy.
“In addition to the war with Iran, we're losing our friends around the world because we can't keep our promises,” Khaldi said. “The automotive industry is being affected by this trade war with Canada, our next-door country.”
International trade can have consequences close to home, particularly in Wayne County, where manufacturing remains a major employer.
Trade tensions with Canada have raised concerns about the automotive industry, which supports jobs and families throughout southeastern Michigan.
For Khaldi, voters want candidates who understand how decisions in Washington affect their daily lives.
“They want a candidate who cares about their issue,” Khaldi said. “Who cares about their future life and their children's lives. They want to keep money out of politics, keep more money in their pockets, reduce the prices of fuel, groceries, and healthcare and treat people with more dignity… if we want to compete with the rest of the world. That's what the voters are looking for in a candidate.”
Those concerns reflect the different pressures voters face across Wayne County, from housing and economic opportunity in Detroit to foreign policy and manufacturing jobs in Dearborn.
The county remains a Democratic stronghold, but the conversations taking place within its communities reveal a more complicated political landscape.
As El-Sayed and Rogers compete for Michigan's open Senate seat, Wayne County's voters will help shape the statewide result. Their priorities, however, are far from uniform.
