Sheldon Neeley, Flint’s incumbent mayor, is running against Tonya Burns, a current member of Flint City Council, for the mayoral position. Voting for the general election ends on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Both Neeley and Burns highlight public safety and blight prevention as ongoing issues. Neeley focused on local infrastructure and reducing costs for citizens in the city of Flint, especially concerning water rates, while Burns wants a higher level of transparency and accountability in Flint government.
Neeley said that if reelected, he would continue the ongoing effort to fight blight in the city of Flint, citing his work in the creation of The Office of Blight Elimination & Neighborhood Stabilization, started in March of 2020.
“We stabilized, and we built, and now there’s more than 2,000 structures down and we continue to move forward on that,” Neely said.
In April 2026, Burns launched her campaign for Mayor of Flint, with her focus being on accountability in government, economic opportunities, and strengthening community partnerships.
Although Burns agreed to be interviewed, scheduling conflicts prevented it; she has expressed similar sentiments on her campaign website and social media. Burns, through her campaign website, wrote that blight and investing in Flint neighborhoods are a top priority.
Both candidates have addressed the issue of public safety in their campaigns. In 2026 so far, there have been 25 homicides in the City of Flint. However, current homicide and gun violence rates are on a downward trend.
Neeley said addressing public safety issues is one of his main concerns if he is re-elected.
“We are working with the Flint community schools to offer kids de-escalation training and making sure that we provide different programs and recreation centers, some of which we just opened,” Neeley said. “All of those things reduce crime. FBI data now states that Flint is not even in the top 50 in crime.”
Burns said in a social media post in May 2026 that gun violence prevention is front and center in her campaign.
“Gun Violence in the City of Flint is happening in epidemic proportions,” Burns wrote. “The silence of leadership in this community speaks volumes to the concern of the lives lost due to gun violence.”
Burns said in an interview with the Flint Beat in Feb. 2026 that she aims to have more transparency in local government.
“We’re lacking the will to govern what the mayor is spending, and it’s not with approval,” Burns said. “Every dollar of those ARPA funds is supposed to come to council for approval.”
Burns motioned to subpoena the mayor over these findings at an April 2026 meeting.
When asked about matters of transparency in the Flint government, Neeley said the government has become more transparent since his election.
“We are the most transparent administration Flint has had.” Neely said, “As it relates to money, we have seven balanced budgets that are filed with the state of Michigan every year. Many of our programs have a webpage that tells you what we are engaging in.”
Neeley said that if he is re-elected, he sees promise in Flint in the coming years.
“Right now, water rates are a very contentious piece,” Neely said. “What we have done is put up a water stabilization fund. My opposition voted against putting money in that water stabilization fund.”
Early in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 24 and continues through Sunday, Nov. 1. Absentee ballots must be requested before Friday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. The election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Maxwell Loxton is a writer for the Michigan Times he can be reached at mloxton@umich.edu.
