The Metro: Detroit Councilwoman Santiago-Romero is suing to get back on August primary ballot

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Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero speaks to Mayor Mike Duggan during his FY25 budget proposal on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero speaks to Mayor Mike Duggan during his FY25 budget proposal on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

We’re four months away from the primary and already, there’s drama with Detroit’s city council race.

Unofficially, there are 45 people vying for nine seats on the council in the Aug. 5 primary election. District 6 Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero was supposed to be among them, but didn’t make it on the ballot after being disqualified for failing to pay a campaign finance fee, according to the City Election Department. 

Santiago-Romero called her removal erroneous and “undemocratic,” and is now suing the Detroit City Clerk’s Office and Clerk Janice Winfrey to get her name restored on the ballot.

Detroit reporter Sam Robinson has been covering the story for his Substack, Detroit One Million. He joined the show to share the latest on the race.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Monday, April 28, 2025:

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Authors

  • Robyn Vincent
    Robyn Vincent is the co-host of The Metro on WDET. She is an award-winning journalist, a lifelong listener of WDET, and a graduate of Wayne State University, where she studied journalism. Before returning home to Detroit, she was a reporter, producer, editor, and executive producer for NPR stations in the Mountain West, including her favorite Western station, KUNC. She received a national fellowship from Investigative Reporters and Editors for her investigative work that probed the unchecked power of sheriffs in Colorado. She was also the editor-in-chief of an alternative weekly newspaper in Wyoming, leading the paper to win its first national award for a series she directed tracing one reporter’s experience living and working with Syrian refugees.
  • Sam Corey is a producer for 101.9 WDET, which includes finding and preparing interesting stories for the daily news, arts and culture program, The Metro. Sam joined WDET after a year and a half at The Union, a small newspaper in California, and stints at a variety of local Michigan outlets, including WUOM and the Metro Times. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago.
  • The Metro