Who is Mary Sheffield? Video of Detroit's first woman mayor dancing goes viral as she celebrated her election victory with elderly residents

On Tuesday (November 4), Democratic candidate Mary Sheffield won the mayoral election in Detroit, thereby becoming the first-ever woman mayor in the city.

Following Sheffield's victory, a video of celebrating the win by dancing with Detroit's elderly resident was posted on X, and has since been going viral.

🔥🚨DEVELOPING: Detroit’s future mayor Marry Sheffield was spotted celebrating her election victory with the elderly residents of Detroit as she danced with joy and excitement to street music. pic.twitter.com/WHyMapiB6R

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) November 6, 2025

Mary, who was born and raised in the western regions of Detroit, is the daughter of civil rights activist and pastor, Horace Sheffield III.

When she was in college - pursuing a bachelor's degree in public affairs at the Wayne State University, Sheffield was recruited as a disciplinary hearing officer at the county jail system.

After completing graduation in 2008, Mary went on to study public administration at the Central Michigan University.

A few years later, she ran for a seat in the Detroit City Council in 2013, and surprisingly won, becoming the youngest-ever council member in history. Eight years after joining the council, Sheffield became its president in 2022. 

Mary Sheffield will take the office in January, as the successor to Mayor Mike Duggan, who has had a successful three-term run, and announced his withdrawal from the 2025 election last year.

Per NDTV, Duggan will instead be running for the mayor of Michigan as an independent candidate, against Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. 

​"I am eagerly ready to get to work": Mary Sheffield's acceptance speech

WOW! Mary Sheffield became the first woman to be elected mayor of Detroit in the city’s 324-year history! 👀
pic.twitter.com/vvMRiC1hNN

— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) November 5, 2025

As Mary Sheffield was announced as Detroit's next mayor on Tuesday night, her speech reflected that she didn't take the responsibility lightly. Sheffield said to her audience: 

"I am eagerly ready to get to work and address the issues that have been laid throughout this campaign. This has been a very overwhelming but profound moment in Detroit's history, and I'm just honored to be a part of it."

Then, addressing the real challenges the city faced given the current national political circumstances, Sheffield continued:

"We are not afforded the same federal funding that we had under the Biden-Harris administration, and so I would just say patience as we move forward. Just know that I'm always going to be as transparent as possible, ensuring that our residents know what we're doing, why we're doing it, and always making sure our residents have a voice throughout this process."

Months away from taking officer, Mary is already working towards assembling her administration team, telling CBS News that her Rise Higher Detroit transition team is actively searching for people rooted in the communities to come aboard.