Detroit Heads to the Polls to Elect a Mayor Who Won't Have Any Power

Two men, Mike Duggan and Benny Napoleon, are vying today in Detroit for an elected office most notable for the fact that it comes with none of the things you generally want if you're running for elected office. The winner – expected to be Duggan by a landslide – won't have much power. He won't get to make many serious decisions influencing the future of the city, or even the course of its looming bankruptcy. And he won't control his own budget, a necessity if you want to reduce insane police response times, or replace all those broken street lights, as voters are demanding.

Many residents of Detroit are rightly baffled as to why they're even going to the trouble of electing a new mayor today.