Sheffield victorious as Detroit's next mayor

• She also returns a supermajority-Black American city to Black leadership for the first time since its bankruptcy ended.

The latest: Sheffield replaces three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who opted not to seek another term and is running for governor.

• She bested rival the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. of Detroit-based Triumph Church in a landslide victory, with Sheffield receiving 77% of the vote to Kinloch's 22% amid 22% voter turnout, per unofficial results with all precincts reported.

What they're saying: "I feel like today was a mandate by the residents of our city that experienced leadership is important, that there has been progress in our city but we've got to do more," Sheffield told reporters Tuesday night ahead of a speech to supporters at MGM Grand.

• Later, standing under a net full of balloons with a packed audience in the casino's grand ballroom, she said: "I say to every little girl watching tonight, and to every child in this city: Never doubt yourself … No mountain is too high for you to climb."
• "I've heard you loud and clear, Detroit, throughout the campaign. Don't forget about the neighborhoods. And I'm going to tell you that we won't. Together, we will invest in every corner of our city …"

State of play: Sheffield, with a progressive history and big-time corporate support, will have an even bigger pulpit to show Detroiters her leadership style following four years as council president.

• As she focuses on campaign goals such as improving education and ensuring livable wages, she'll face major challenges like budget constraints, potentially fewer federal dollars and constrained nonprofit partners.

By the numbers: Sheffield joins eight Black female mayors of the 100 most populous U.S. cities as of June, per the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

• Thirty-seven of those 100 cities were governed by women.

Of those women, Sheffield will become one of, if not the youngest, at 38.

• CAWP doesn't officially track mayors' ages, but couldn't confirm any others under 40 to Axios.

More and more younger women are running for office, CAWP associate director Jean Sinzdak tells Axios.

• Historically, many women have been constrained by child care responsibilities, less flexible jobs and a lack of leadership roles.
• "Youth isn't something that's going to hold you back, at this point. It can be something really positive," Sinzdak says.

Context: "Detroit has been a city of history and they have done it once again," Mayor Van Johnson II of Savannah, Georgia, and president of the African American Mayors Association, told Axios.

• "I think it's important to make history, but it's also important to make sense. … This is not a gift, she earned this," Johnson said.
• He said Sheffield is an example of the demographic his organization is pushing for: young leaders with ideas and energy who also have immense experience.

Zoom in: Sheffield is a native Detroiter who has "come up through the ranks, who has street credibility, someone who has served both in the community and on the council," said Johnson, whose association's membership is about one-third women.

• "I think that is the quintessential American story," Johnson said. "She will be one little girls can look at and say, 'I can make this happen, because she made it happen.'"

Between the lines: Sheffield garnered support from a wide swath of Detroiters, outraising competitors and nabbing Duggan's endorsement.

• But she also spent the campaign's final days responding to media reports and Kinloch's accusations that she voted on city contracts worth millions for a demolition company whose CEO she was dating, as the Free Press chronicled.
• Sheffield has said she conferred with the city ethics board on the issue. She also cited a statement from corporation counsel Conrad Mallett asserting that council members are not subject to an executive order prohibiting personal relationships with contractors, according to the News.

Kinloch's reaction

After securing the second spot in a crowded primary, Kinloch's outsider campaign to bring a different lens to the mayor's office came to an end.

What they're saying: "The election may be over, but the movement is still going on," Kinloch said in a speech Tuesday night as reported by the Free Press.

• "I want to make it clear tonight that Solomon Kinloch and the Kinloch family ain't going nowhere."

Between the lines: Kinloch centered his run on his roots in Detroit, his power to convene stakeholders to solve problems, his push to alleviate poverty and his leadership of Detroit-based Triumph Church, which provides community support and says it has around 40,000 members across eight locations.

• He responded to campaign controversies of his own, including his 1994 guilty plea of assaulting his then-wife that resurfaced shortly before the primary.
• He said then that offering second chances was part of his ministry and campaign.