Coleman Young II mayoral run uses racially charged campaign

DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit mayoral candidate Coleman Young II has a new campaign ad that's getting a lot of attention.

In that ad he makes criminal accusations against incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan also injecting race into the ad.

"Rigging a bid is rigging a bid," said Adolph Mongo.

Mongo, a longtime political consultant, is the mastermind behind Young's new racially charged campaign ad funded by his supporters.

In the ad it says:  "Kwame Kilpatrick went to prison for rigging contracts so what's the difference he and Mike Duggan, who also admitted to rigging city contracts?"

The controversial spot compares Detroit's current mayor to its former - who is now serving a 28-year sentence for public corruption.

It accuses Mayor Mike Duggan of rigging contracts - alluding to an ongoing federal investigation into the city's federally funded demolition program.

However Duggan has not been charged, openly defended the program and is cooperating with authorities.

The ad continues: "When will the corruption stop? Why does Duggan get a pass when Kwame Kilpatrick goes to jail for 28 years? It's as simple as black and white."

But does the ad just fuel the racism fire?

"Listen it is out there," Mongo said. "People don't want to have a real discussion of how folks in the community feel, that Kilpatrick has been held to a higher standard."

The Duggan administration calls the ad false. Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley told FOX 2. " This is the kind of vile stuff we've come to expect from this campaign. We are disgusted, but not surprised."

"She has to say what she has to say," Mongo said. "She can go and Google Duggan and his interview and you will find him saying that they rigged the bids. It is that simple. Like I said as simple as black and white, (it) doesn't mean it is a racial thing, black and white is very clear."

It is the first TV ad for Coleman Young II who is considered the underdog in the election. Mongo, his political strategist, has a history of playing the race card in political ads. Last month in another campaign video Coleman Young II linked Duggan to white supremacy.

"It gets the point across," he said. "You do ads to get emotion out of people. Nobody wants an ad to run and nobody has anything to say about it one way or another."

Back in 2005 when Kilpatrick was seeking re-election, Mongo was behind a newspaper ad comparing the media coverage of Kilpatrick to a lynching. That ad drew national criticism - certainly not the first time.