Saunteel Jenkins

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Saunteel Jenkins

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Detroit City Council At-large

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 5, 2025

Education

High school

Cass Technical High School

Bachelor's

Wayne State University

Graduate

Wayne State University

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Personal Facebook

Saunteel Jenkins was an at-large member of the Detroit City Council in Michigan. She assumed office in 2010. She left office on November 7, 2014.

Jenkins ran for election for Mayor of Detroit in Michigan. She lost in the primary on August 5, 2025.

Elections

2025

See also: Mayoral election in Detroit, Michigan (2025)

General election

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Mayor of Detroit

Solomon Kinloch and Mary Sheffield are running in the general election for Mayor of Detroit on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Solomon Kinloch (Nonpartisan)
		Mary Sheffield (Nonpartisan)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Detroit

The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Detroit on August 5, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mary Sheffield (Nonpartisan)	50.7	43,597
✔		Solomon Kinloch (Nonpartisan)	17.3	14,900
		Saunteel Jenkins (Nonpartisan)	16.0	13,738
	Submit photo	Todd Perkins (Nonpartisan)	5.4	4,603
		James Craig (Nonpartisan)	5.2	4,458
		Fred Durhal III (Nonpartisan)	3.4	2,902
		Jonathan Barlow (Nonpartisan)	0.8	707
	Submit photo	Danetta Simpson (Nonpartisan)	0.6	538
		Joel Haashiim (Nonpartisan)	0.4	349
	Submit photo	Arnold Boyd (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	42
	Submit photo	Rogelio Landin (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	10
	Submit photo	Kristopher Carter (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	2
	Submit photo	Joyce Jennings-Fells (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	2
	Submit photo	Angelo Brown (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	1
	Submit photo	Oneita Jackson (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	1
	Submit photo	Winnie Imbuchi (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	1
	Submit photo	Jeremy Conn (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Lucinda Darrah (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Doris Anderson (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Jonny Myles (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Lakeita Norwood-Brown (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	169

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	There were no incumbents in this race. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 86,020
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

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2013

Jenkins won re-election to the Detroit City Council on November 5, 2013.

General election

City Council of Detroit, Michigan - At-large, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Saunteel Jenkins Incumbent	34.4%	76,948
	Nonpartisan	Brenda Jones Incumbent	34.4%	76,986
	Nonpartisan	David Bullock	17.4%	39,001
	Nonpartisan	Roy McCalister, Jr.	13.3%	29,868
	Nonpartisan	Write-in	0.4%	990
Total Votes				223,793
Source: City of Detroit Department of Elections

Primary election

Detroit, Michigan City Council Primary, At-Large, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Saunteel Jenkins	34.2%	51,971
	Nonpartisan	Brenda Jones	30%	45,594
	Nonpartisan	David Bullock	10.4%	15,746
	Nonpartisan	Roy McCalister, Jr.	8.8%	13,414
	Nonpartisan	Monica Lewis-Patrick	6.4%	9,775
	Nonpartisan	Angles Lisa Hunt	3.6%	5,523
	Nonpartisan	Cedric Banks	3.5%	5,325
	Nonpartisan	Jessica Rayford-Clark	3%	4,516
	Nonpartisan	All other candidates	0%	67
Total Votes				151,931
Source: City of Detroit Elections Center

2009

General election

The 2009 election was the last election in which all Detroit city council members were elected at large. The names of the 18 highest vote recipients from the August 2009 primary were listed on the ballot, and voters were instructed to vote for no more than nine candidates.

A measure on the 2009 general election ballot proposed a change from a nine-member at-large city council to a council with seven members elected by district and two members elected at large. The measure was approved with the support of 73.35% of voters

Detroit, Michigan City Council Primary, At-Large, 2009
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Charles Pugh	9.4%	88,797
	Nonpartisan	Gary Brown	8.6%	80,809
	Nonpartisan	Saunteel Jenkins	7.9%	75,016
	Nonpartisan	Ken Cockrel, Jr.	7.9%	74,781
	Nonpartisan	Brenda Jones	6.5%	61,367
	Nonpartisan	Andre L. Spivey	6.4%	60,450
	Nonpartisan	James Tate	6.2%	58,215
	Nonpartisan	Kwame Kenyatta	6.1%	57,541
	Nonpartisan	Jo Ann Watson	5.8%	54,653
	Nonpartisan	Lisa Howze	5.1%	48,483
	Nonpartisan	Alberta Tinsley Talabi	5%	47,003
	Nonpartisan	Jai-Lee Dearing	4.9%	45,785
	Nonpartisan	John K. Bennett	3.8%	35,613
	Nonpartisan	Shelly I. Foy	3.7%	35,148
	Nonpartisan	Mohamed Okdie	3.5%	32,933
	Nonpartisan	Fred Elliott Hall	3.5%	32,875
	Nonpartisan	Raphael B. Johnson	3.4%	31,665
	Nonpartisan	David J. Cross	2.3%	21,534
	Nonpartisan	Write-in	0.1%	999
Total Votes				943,667
Source: City of Detroit Elections Center

Primary election

The names of the 18 highest vote recipients from the August 2009 primary advanced to the November 2009 general election ballot, and voters were instructed to vote for no more than 9 candidates. Jenkins finished fifth, making the cutoff for the general election.

Detroit, Michigan City Council Primary, At-Large, 2009
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Charles Pugh	8.7%	59,681
	Nonpartisan	Ken Cockrel Jr.	7.3%	49,743
	Nonpartisan	Gary Brown	6.1%	41,351
	Nonpartisan	Brenda Jones	4.4%	30,041
	Nonpartisan	Saunteel Jenkins	4.4%	29,879
	Nonpartisan	Kwame Kenyatta	4.2%	28,674
	Nonpartisan	Jo Ann Watson	3.7%	24,934
	Nonpartisan	Jai-Lee Dearing	3.4%	22,935
	Nonpartisan	Alberta Tinsley Talabi	2.9%	20,124
	Nonpartisan	Andre L. Spivey	2.9%	20,105
	Nonpartisan	James Tate	2.9%	19,513
	Nonpartisan	Lisa Howze	1.8%	12,511
	Nonpartisan	Shelly I. Foy	1.7%	11,736
	Nonpartisan	Fred Elliott Hall	1.6%	11,088
	Nonpartisan	Raphael B. Johnson	1.6%	10,904
	Nonpartisan	Mohamed Okdie	1.4%	9,389
	Nonpartisan	David J. Cross	1.3%	9,140
	Nonpartisan	John K. Bennett	1.2%	8,177
	Nonpartisan	Roy McCalister Jr.	1%	6,876
	Nonpartisan	Delicia Taylor Coleman	1%	6,792
	Nonpartisan	Clinton Griffin Jr.	0.9%	6,334
	Nonpartisan	Sheila Jackson	0.9%	6,281
	Nonpartisan	Dalton Roberson Jr.	0.9%	6,159
	Nonpartisan	All other candidates	33.8%	230,751
Total Votes				683,118
Source: City of Detroit Elections Center

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Saunteel Jenkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2025 Elections

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Mayor of Detroit

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