Detroiters' Policy Priorities: What Matters to Detroiters Leading Up to the November 2022 Elections

The report highlights Detroiters’ policy priorities leading up to the November 2022 elections.

This report is part of a series of reports highlighting findings from the most recent survey of the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) and supported by the Center for Racial Justice. The survey was fielded between June 16 and Aug. 26, 2022, and captures the views of a representative sample of 2,339 Detroit residents. 

Key findings

• While national attention has focused on the importance of inflation and crime in the November 2022 elections, the quality of K-12 schools is at least as likely to be considered a high priority among Detroit residents. Seventy-seven percent of Detroit residents indicate the quality of K-12 schools should be a high priority for elected officials.
• Nearly one out of every three eligible voters living in Detroit indicate some level of uncertainty about whether they will vote. These uncertain voters are most likely to list the quality of K-12 schools (78%), inflation (76%), affordable health care (74%), affordable housing (72%), and crime (71%) as a high priority.
• Black and White Detroiters diverge in the degree to which they feel elected officials should prioritize a number of issues. This divergence is most evident on the issues of rates of COVID-19, crime, the accessibility of high quality jobs, and policing reform, which Black Detroiters were far more likely to consider a top priority relative to White Detroiters.