Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield had a historic win on Tuesday, becoming the first woman to be elected Mayor of Detroit. In this episode of MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben are joined by BridgeDetroit reporter Malachi Barrett and Detroit One Million founder Sam Robinson to discuss how Sheffield might govern in her new role.
Not only is Sheffield the first woman to become mayor for the city of Detroit, but she had record turnout in comparison to her predecessor.
“Duggan is talked about as this electoral juggernaut, especially in his re-election campaigns. He never had above 75% or even hit 75,000 votes,” Barrett said. “Sheffield had both.”
Barrett also said Sheffield was more present in the community and had better relationships than her opponent, Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.
Sheffield’s trajectory
From here, Sheffield’s career could go in many different directions. But according to Robinson, Detroit is the main focus for the young politician.
He recounted stories from her election night afterparty and says he believes she aspires to be a candidate like former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young. Robinson also said that her representation as an African American woman has inspired a lot of people.
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Political junkies have their minds on the elections that just happened this past week. But one year ahead, there are a lot more elections in the state.
That’s true for the governor’s race, where a slate of Democratic and Republican candidates, in addition to an independent candidate, are running for the seat.
Currently, Congressman John James and former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox are in the lead for the Republican nomination. Why? And, what do they need to do to win?
Producer Sam Corey spoke to longtime Michigan Republican strategist Jeff Timmer to find out.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
For the first time, a woman is mayor-elect for the City of Detroit.
Mary Sheffield is a 38-year old Black woman and the current Detroit City Council President. In becoming mayor, she’ll have a much brighter spotlight flashing on her. And many agree that that light, because of her gender, will carry scrutiny that Mayor Duggan never had to face.
Notably, Detroit already has many women leading organizations and departments across the city. So how significant is Sheffield’s win? And, what kinds of things might she need to be concerned about that a man wouldn’t?
To discuss all this now, we have Raquel Constañeda-Lopez served on Detroit City Council at the same time as Sheffield. Now she runs an organization called Restorative Democracy, which supports women of color who hold public office.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Dearborn voters have elected Mayor Abdullah Hammoud for a second term.
Hammoud won with more than 70% of the votes in his bid against challenger Nagi Almudhegi.
He told a crowd of about 250 people at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center Tuesday night that the city is built on coexistence across faiths, backgrounds, and political views.
Crowd at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.
“To our Arab American community, to our Polish, Irish, and Italian American families, to every new neighbor and every long time resident, white, Black or brown, to every faith and every background, Dearborn is a place where you are seen, where you are valued, and where you belong.”
Sparks fly in celebration of Hammoud’s win in the 2025 mayoral election in Dearborn
Hammoud became the city’s first Arab American and Muslim mayor in 2021 after mobilizing volunteers for clean-up efforts from catastrophic floods.
Hammoud ran on a bid to continue the work he started four years ago. He said, “The way to win re-election campaigns is to treat people with dignity, to meet them in their homes and in their communities, listen to their needs, and deliver change that their families can see and can feel. That’s what we’re doing in Dearborn.”
Also in Dearborn, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to create a ward system for districted city council seats.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj says 150 absentee ballots were rejected for not having a signature on the ballot or for ballot signatures that didn’t match city records.
Audits show Detroit’s polling sites still fall short on accessibility, even as Michigan expands early voting. We explore what disabled voters faced this election — and what must change before the next one.
In Northwest Detroit, District 7 went to Denzel McCampbell.
He defeated Democratic Michigan State Representative Karen Whitsett, who angered many in her party by caucusing with Republicans during last year’s lame duck session.
McCampbell is a former communications director for Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and a Democratic Socialist. He says his message resonates with Detroit voters.
“When we’re talking about delivering on basic needs, making sure that folks can have housing, that they can have food on the table in there, and have what they need to thrive, I think that’s what this moment is about, and we have to make sure that we not only build on it, but work together to deliver on that as well.”
McCampbell says he has a good relationship with Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield after working with her on the Detroit charter commission.
“When I was on the charter Commission, we worked on the Detroiter Bill of Rights, and I really look forward to meeting and coming together on how we can really make sure we’re serving our neighborhoods and really delivering for our neighborhoods, especially in District 7.”
McCampbell is now the second Democratic Socialist on city council after Gabriela Santiago-Romero won re-election.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj says 150 absentee ballots were rejected for not having a signature on the ballot or for ballot signatures that didn’t match city records.
Audits show Detroit’s polling sites still fall short on accessibility, even as Michigan expands early voting. We explore what disabled voters faced this election — and what must change before the next one.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mary Sheffield won the race for Detroit mayor on Tuesday, defeating Solomon Kinloch Jr. to become the first woman elected to lead the city.
Sheffield, the Detroit City Council president, received more than 50% of the vote in August’s all-party municipal primary. The office is officially nonpartisan.
Sheffield will succeed three-term incumbent Mike Duggan, who did not seek reelection. The Associated Press declared Sheffield the winner at 9:12 p.m. EST.
Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj says 150 absentee ballots were rejected for not having a signature on the ballot or for ballot signatures that didn’t match city records.
Audits show Detroit’s polling sites still fall short on accessibility, even as Michigan expands early voting. We explore what disabled voters faced this election — and what must change before the next one.
For a long time, Michigan’s roads didn’t have the funding they needed. Last month lawmakers placed a 24%tax on marijuana products sold in the state to fill that gap. The vote was mostly along party lines with Democrats supporting it, and Republicans rejecting the measure.
But the vote needed bipartisan support, and they got it from Upper Peninsula State Senator Ed McBroom. Last week, Metro Producer Sam Corey spoke with the Republican about why he gave a “yes” vote, and how he’s found common ground with Democrats who live in Michigan’s cities.
They spoke before the state Senate voted to cover SNAP funding and before President Donald Trump complied with rulings to temporarily and partially fund SNAP for this month.
At the end of the conversation, state Senator McBroom was asked about whether he would support state funding for SNAP. Senator McBroom, along with several other Senate Republicans, did not attend the vote for that in the state senate later the same day.
McBroom’s office said that the senator was told by Democratic leadership that they wouldn’t be voting on anything and that the SNAP bill wasn’t originally on the day’s agenda. Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks’ office said the Senate Republican caucus was provided the bill and had time to meet to discuss it ahead of the vote.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The winter holidays are a time for dusting off decorations and observing traditions — but they’re also rife with money decisions.
Americans are choosing how much to spend on travel, gifts and decorations in today’s economy, along with how they’ll make those purchases. Some holiday shoppers and travelers plan to use credit cards, but debit cards; buy now, pay later services (BNPL); and rewards points are other popular payment options.
Bankrate’s key findings on holiday spending
Fewer Americans will travel for holidays this year, compared with last year: 21% plan to fly or stay in a hotel or short-term rental for Thanksgiving or the December holidays, compared to 27% in 2024.Source: Bankrate’s 2025 Holiday Travel Survey
Around 2 in 5 holiday shoppers expect higher price tags this year: 41% say they’re concerned winter holiday gifts will be more expensive this year. But only 24% will budget for holiday spending.Source: Bankrate’s 2025 Early Holiday Shopping Survey
Roughly half of holiday shoppers will begin before the end of October: That includes 13% who started shopping or planned to in August, 11% in September and 25% in October.Source: Bankrate’s 2025 Early Holiday Shopping Survey
Home for the holidays? Fewer Americans plan to travel this holiday season
If you’re opting out of a flight to visit Grandma and Grandpa or a trip to Disney for the holidays in 2025, you’re not alone. Fewer Americans plan to travel for Thanksgiving or the winter holidays this year versus last year, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Holiday Travel Survey.
Around 1 in 5 U.S. adults (21 percent) say they plan to stay in a hotel or short-term rental or travel by airplane for the upcoming holidays. That’s compared to 27 percent in 2024.
Younger generations, men and parents of young kids are most likely to plan for less holiday travel this year
Interestingly, the people who are overall most likely to travel for the holidays are also the ones responsible for the biggest declines in travel this year.For example, Gen Zers (ages 18-28) and millennials (ages 29-44) are overall the most likely to travel at 30 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared to 16 percent of Gen Xers (ages 45-60) and 12 percent of boomers (ages 61-79).But the percentage of traveling Gen Zers dropped the most from last year, by 14 percentage points, followed by traveling millennials, who dropped by 9 points. Gen Xers dropped by 5 points, and boomers are traveling at basically the same rate this year as last, with a 2-point difference.
And while 21 percent of both men and women say they plan to travel this holiday season, that’s down 10 percentage points from 2024 for men and down 2 points for women.
Let’s look at parents — 33 percent of parents with children under the age of 18 plan to travel this holiday season, down 13 points from 2024. In comparison, 21 percent of all parents plan to travel this season, down 7 points from last year.Lastly, higher earners are more likely to travel for the holiday season. Twenty-nine percent of those earning $100,000 and above say they plan to travel, compared to 23 percent of those in both the $80,000 to $99,999 and $50,000 to $79,999 income brackets and 16 percent of those earning below $50,000. Still, all of those income brackets are traveling less than or about the same as they did last year, with drops of 9 percentage points, 2 points, 8 points and 8 points, respectively.
“While many Americans appear to be scaling back their travel plans this year, we’ll have to see if that actually happens,” says Rossman. “Consumer sentiment has been depressed for a while now, thanks mostly to worries about inflation and tariffs, yet people are still spending. The disconnect between what people say and what they do has been growing.”
Holiday travelers prefer credit cards
Among all the ways to pay, credit cards are the most popular method for holiday travel (63 percent) — either paid in full (40 percent) or with a balance paid over time (23 percent).
Debit cards and/or cash is the second most popular option (44 percent), followed by rewards points (32 percent), asking friends/family to pay (13 percent) and BNPL services (10 percent).
Both credit cards and rewards travel are more popular this year. The number of adults who say they’ll use each method of payment are up 4 percentage points and 8 percentage points, respectively, from 2024.
“Don’t forget about your rewards points and miles,” Rossman advises. “Many people have accumulated more than they realize.”
Nearly 1 in 3 holiday travelers plan to take on debt
Adjusting for overlap between those who plan to carry a credit card balance and those who will use BNPL, nearly 1 in 3 travelers (31 percent) are likely to take on debt.Millennial holiday travelers are most likely to accrue debt, at 39 percent. That’s compared to 30 percent of Gen X, 25 percent of Gen Z and 21 percent of boomer travelers.And debt usage for holiday travel peaks among middle-income earners of $50,000 to $99,999 (39 percent). The lowest income bracket, those making less than $50,000, is next (34 percent), followed by 23 percent of $100,000+ earners.Learn how to travel smart and stay out of debt.
Around 2 in 5 holiday shoppers, especially boomers, fear high price tags this holiday season
Loren Jerae, a 26-year-old stay-at-home mom in Charlotte, North Carolina, has already begun Christmas shopping. She’ll frequent thrift stores, online marketplaces and clearance racks for the next few months until she’s curated the perfect pile of presents for her 5-year-old son.
As a young mom, “I didn’t want our finances to determine his holiday,” she says. “Ever since he was born, I have always been budget-friendly.”
When it comes to holiday shopping, Jerae is in good company.
Most Americans (79 percent) plan to holiday shop this year. And about half of holiday shoppers (49 percent) have already begun or plan to begin shopping before Oct. 31, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Early Holiday Shopping Survey. Jerae starts even sooner.
She says she sets money aside during the first half of the year. Come July, she takes advantage of summer clearance sales and back-to-school deals to snag some early Christmas gifts. By August, she’s tackling her entire shopping list for her son, fiancé, parents and other friends and family.
Two in 5 shoppers (41 percent) are concerned that holiday gifts will be more expensive this year, which may be why they’re getting a head start. “I absolutely feel like [prices are] higher,” Jerae comments.
A few years ago, she and her fiancé tried shopping the month before Christmas and ended up spending around $700 on “a bunch of junk.” She told herself she’d never do that again.
“I am not spending that type of money on one or two items,” she says. By shopping early, “I can make $100 stretch, and we can get several things.”
Boomers and middle-income earners are most concerned about higher holiday prices
Notably, that concern over high prices is highest among boomers (46 percent, ages 61-79) and decreases with age. Forty percent of Gen Xers (ages 45-60), 39 percent of millennials (ages 29-44) and 37 percent of Gen Zers (ages 18-28) noted the same concern.Concern about high holiday prices this year is also more prominent among middle-income households. Forty-nine percent of $80,000-$99,999 earners and 45 percent of $50,000-$79,999 earners say they’re concerned, versus 38 percent of both the highest and lowest earners ($100,000+ and under $50,000, respectively).Rossman says the higher earners are easier to explain, as more disposable income allows for some wiggle room in the budget. But lower earners may have already tightened their holiday budgets after high inflation and interest rates in the last few years. It could still be a tough financial season — but they’ve adapted.On the other hand, Rossman explains, middle earners may be newly disenchanted by higher prices and feel like their paychecks aren’t stretching as far as they used to.
Concern about high prices may be warranted
Money woes are top of mind for some holiday shoppers
More than 1 in 3 shoppers say inflation will change how they shop (36 percent), and more than 1 in 4 say holiday shopping will strain their budgets (29 percent) and are stressed about winter holiday shopping costs (27 percent).In fact, only 11 percent explicitly said they’re not concerned about the cost of winter holiday shopping.
More holiday shoppers will make their purchases online
Nearly 2 in 5 shoppers (38 percent) intend to make most of their purchases online, versus 1 in 5 (20 percent) who plan to make most of their purchases in person. Perhaps surprisingly, boomers are the most likely to make most of their purchases online (45 percent), compared to just 33 percent of Gen Zers.Jerae, a Gen Zer, tends to shop more in person. “I’d rather just hit all the thrift stores in my area,” she explains.And roughly 1 in 6 shoppers (16 percent) expect that gifts will be harder to find this year.
Around 1 in 4 shoppers expect to spend more this holiday season
Twenty-seven percent of holiday shoppers expect to spend more this holiday season than they did last year, compared to 30 percent who expect to spend less. Forty-three percent expect to spend about the same.
There could be a couple of factors at play.
First, those who plan to spend more may anticipate higher prices this year, Rossman explains. Or, they could simply be earning more income and feeling generous.
Meanwhile, Rossman says those who plan to spend less might be more optimistic about prices this year. Or, they might be shortening their gift lists to save money.
More than 1 in 4 shoppers plan to take on debt this season, but debit cards are the top pick for payment
Sixty-one percent of holiday shoppers expect to use debit cards for at least some of their purchases, avoiding debt but likely sacrificing rewards potential.
Credit cards are the next most popular option, with 57 percent of shoppers planning to use them. Among those users, 35 percent plan to pay in full and 21 percent plan to carry balances over time.
Cash remains a popular option, with 49 percent planning to pay with cash. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services (12 percent), checks (5 percent) and some other method (3 percent) round out the ways people plan to pay for their winter holiday shopping.
Gen Zers are the most likely to use debit cards (70 percent) and cash (55 percent). Boomers are the most likely to pay with credit cards (62 percent), and millennials are the most likely to use a BNPL service (17 percent).
After adjusting for overlap, more than 1 in 4 shoppers (28 percent) may take on debt either with a credit card they will pay off over time or BNPL. But just 4 percent say they are “willing to take on debt” in another survey question — revealing a possible disconnect between what Americans say and what they do.
Nearly half of shoppers will start before Halloween
You’re not behind on holiday shopping yet, but nearly half of shoppers (49 percent) will have started or plan to start before the end of October.
That includes 13 percent who started or planned to start by the end of August, another 11 percent in September and another 25 percent in October, leaving 37 percent who plan to start shopping in November and 14 percent in December.
Rossman thinks the early bird might get the worm.
“While some consumers shake their heads that holiday shopping seems to start earlier each year, the early start gives you more time to spread out your cash flow and find the best deals,” he explains.
Set aside money ahead of time. Half of Americans are in credit card debt, and the holidays make it easy to spend more money than you have. Instead, try building a holiday fund before you start shopping or booking travel. From January to July, Jerae puts between $30 and $50 weekly into a high-yield savings account that she’ll later use for Christmas gifts. Only around 1 in 4 holiday shoppers (24 percent) expect to budget for the holidays, but you can be one of them. Learn how to create a sinking fund to avoid going into debt.
Start shopping early. The thought of buying gifts in July may sound like holiday creep, but it can actually lead to better deals and help you dodge the December mall frenzy. Take advantage of sales throughout the fall and compare prices without feeling rushed. You could have every item on your list checked off weeks before the holidays, leaving you more time to nosh on cookies and celebrate with your family.
Stay flexible with your travel schedule. “You can save on travel costs by going a few days before the holiday and/or coming back a few days later,” Rossman explains. “Or even traveling on the holiday itself. You could also consider nearby airports, connecting flights, less popular flight times and staying with family instead of booking a hotel room.”
Try secondhand shopping. Jerae found a play kitchen for $40 resale, well below the brand-new $100+ price tag. She says kids don’t know or care if a gift is secondhand — and she can find better prices for items with higher quality and more character. Learn how to thrift to help your budget.
Use a rewards credit card. You could earn cash back or points on your holiday purchases, flights or hotel stays with one of the best rewards cards. And those rewards could go toward future gifts or a family vacation. Learn how to choose a rewards card.
You can also combine money-saving methods. “Starting early and stacking discounts are strategies that shoppers can deploy to save money,” Rossman advises.
The bottom line
Many Americans are holiday shopping early this year, and possibly with good reason — they’re worried about rising prices and want more time to find the best deals. Just don’t fall prey to impulse shopping during those extra months.
By sticking to a list and a budget, it really could be the most wonderful time of the year.
MethodologyBankrate commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the surveys. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.2025 Holiday Travel Survey: Total sample size was 2,529 adults, of which 498 plan to travel this holiday season Fieldwork was undertaken between Sept. 2-4, 2025. The survey was carried out online. It gathered a non-probability-based sample and employed demographic quotas and weights to better align the survey sample with the broader U.S. population.2025 Early Holiday Shopping Survey: Total sample size was 2,567 adults, including 2,020 who expect to participate in winter holiday shopping. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 28-30, 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults (aged 18+).
A pedicab driver dressed as Santa Claus waits for customers as lots of visitors fill the streets Radio City and near the the Rockefeller Christmas Tree on Christmas Day on Dec. 25, 2024, in New York City. For the first time since 2005 the first night of Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas. The area is one of the nation’s most popular destinations for shopping… (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images North America/TNS)
In this episode, cannabis attorney Lance Boldrey joins the show. He chats with WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben about how the 2026 state budget affects the cannabis industry.
Plus, Republican gubernatorial candidates had their first debate this week. We discuss a notable absence and the major themes of the debate.
How does the wholesale tax on the marijuana industry affect businesses of different sizes?
Reviewing the first Republican debate for Michigan’s 2026 gubernatorial race
Which gubernatorial candidates have raised the most money so far?
Cannabis in the state budget
The 2026 state budget included a 24% tax increase on the marijuana market. The tax will be applied to the retailer’s sales regardless of other taxes already listed in the line of items of any marijuana invoice.
Boldrey, who focuses on cannabis cases at the law firm Dykema, says small businesses will be hit the hardest.
“I think the folks that get the most negatively impacted are the micro businesses, which are the social equity part of the industry, which are people that come in as craft producers. They don’t have any wholesale activity at all because everything is grown, processed and sold in the exact same location.”
Boldrey says these micro businesses can’t make a wholesale purchase or a wholesale sale, but they will have a wholesale tax on their production.
Reviewing the gubernatorial debate
At the Republican gubernatorial debate this week, there was a notable absence from U.S. Representative John James, who said he would not participate in these debates until the field was more settled. As of now, James is perceived as the frontrunner, but there may be risk with his approach.
He’s already upset some GOP delegates mad by skipping a different event organized by the state party. If he does win the primary, he may have to win those delegates back heading into the general election.
Also, campaign finance reports were due this week from all parties. Republican John James, Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Independent Mike Duggan have raised the most from donors in their campaigns so far.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
A few weeks ago, I was about to pay the HVAC technician who had repaired my home’s heat pump. Out of habit, I pulled a credit card from my wallet — I figured I’d earn rewards on this pricey transaction — but then the tech warned me that his company assesses a 3% surcharge on credit card payments. Thankful for the heads-up, I wrote him a check instead.
Credit card surcharges aren’t new, but they’re becoming more common. According to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study, “34% of merchants are adding surcharges for customer purchases made using credit cards.” Compare that number to just a year before, when 20% of merchants reported assessing surcharges, per a 2024 State of the Industry Report from CMSPI, a payments consultancy firm.
Surcharging at restaurants, in particular, can at times feel like the rule, not the exception. One Reddit thread from August 2025 pointedly asked: “Since when did 3% CC [credit card] fees at restaurants become the new normal?” In other words, why now?
Several factors are at play, but a short version is that it’s simply become more expensive, over time, for businesses to accept credit cards, and surcharges help offset those costs.
The practice, though, is changing the math for users of rewards credit cards. While it used to be a no-brainer to pick up the tab with a card that earns a flat 2% back, now that same decision on a bill with a 3% surcharge could result in a loss.
“We’re approaching a tipping point where consumers are actively saying they won’t pay the surcharge,” says Don Apgar, director of the merchant payments practice at Javelin Strategy & Research.
In the moment — stuck in the restaurant booth when the check arrives — you don’t exactly have much of a choice. But you do have longer-term options.
The payment processing company Stripe defines a surcharge as “an additional fee that a business may add to a transaction when a customer pays with a credit card,” meant to recoup “the costs that the business incurs for processing credit card payments.” These costs to businesses, known as interchange fees, totaled more than $160 billion in 2022, according to Stripe.
Interchange fees are set by the payment networks that credit cards run on: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. The rewards that your credit card earns — cash back, points or miles — are largely funded by those interchange fees. As such, merchants generally pay more in interchange fees to accept rewards cards as a payment method. Apgar estimates that 75% of the credit cards that consumers pay with today earn rewards.
It’s become a flashpoint in the payments industry, pitting credit card companies against merchants. The former argue they’re providing an essential service and that interchange fees are simply the cost of doing business, while the latter argue that those costs are spiraling out of control.
Lawmakers, too, are paying attention. In 2022, the Credit Card Competition Act was introduced in Congress. It aims to create more competition in the credit card payment network market, which supporters argue would lead to lower interchange costs for merchants. The bill hasn’t passed, but supporters continue to push for it every year.
Why they’re ‘becoming de facto’
So for now, merchants are leaning on surcharges to defray interchange fees, when they can. Some states ban surcharging outright, while others allow it as long as merchants abide by certain rules.
For example, businesses must tell their customers — through written or verbal notices — if they impose a surcharge for credit card payments. And in general, surcharges cannot exceed the limit set by the payment network that the card runs on. (You may have encountered such language on a restaurant bill: “Non-cash adjustments are not greater than our cost of acceptance.”)
It’s a patchwork system that can be hard to follow for both customers and merchants. And on top of that, rewards credit cards are getting even more generous for consumers — and thus more expensive for businesses to accept.
“U.S. cardholders have an insatiable appetite for rewards and benefits,” says John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at J.D. Power. “We continue to see an upward spiral for rewards, cash back percentages [and] the number of rewards categories.”
Cabell also believes the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the surcharging trend. “Since the pandemic, additional fees and charges have become more commonplace,” he says. For instance, some restaurants that remained open during the pandemic tacked on a COVID-related surcharge to make up for the extra costs required to operate safely.
Today, restaurants may be more inclined to surcharge with the recent memory that their patrons were willing to pay extra fees before.
“Surcharging was few and far between … but now it’s becoming de facto,” Apgar says.
What are your options?
‘Do the math’
When faced with a surcharge, you could opt to pay the bill with cash, check or debit card, instead of credit. You won’t be alone. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study found that “41% of credit card users … decided not to use a card payment method at a large or small business because of a surcharge.”
If you insist on paying with a credit card, try to use one whose rewards outweigh the surcharge. And remember, it’s not always about the percentages. To come out ahead on a restaurant tab with a 3% surcharge, a card that earns 3% cash back on dining would cover you — but so might a card that earns 2 points back per $1 at restaurants, depending on how much those points are worth. For that matter, so might a card with a large welcome bonus that you’re trying to snag.
“You have to do the math to figure out if it’s worth it based on the type of rewards and benefits you’re pursuing,” Cabell says.
Stack rewards
Use a card that earns bonus rewards on dining, then “stack” those savings with a cash-back app or card-linked offer.
Chain restaurants and local eateries alike are often featured in both.
Flag improper charges
If you suspect a restaurant is illegally surcharging, you can dispute the charge by filing a complaint with the card issuer, who will escalate it to the payment network and then the payment processor for that particular merchant.
You could also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or your state’s attorney general. To recover a surcharge, you could ask for a refund from the restaurant, or go to small claims court. However, Cabell warns that it could “take a real effort for a very small amount of money.”
Go next door
If you see a sign on the door or menu mentioning a “non-cash service fee” or a “discount for all cash purchases,” you could walk out and take your business elsewhere.
That’s cold comfort to, say, foodies who love trying out the latest trendy spots, surcharges be darned. In that case, it may help to keep in mind that rewards are only one benefit of paying with a credit card. You’ll also get stronger fraud protections, easier budget tracking and opportunities for credit-building. Depending on the card and the purchase, you may also get insurance coverage or extended warranties.
Whether it’s worth paying a surcharge for those benefits is up to you.
Next week, the Hamtramck will residents will elect a new mayor.
That’s because the outgoing mayor, Amer Ghalib was picked to be the Kuwait ambassador. His Senate confirmation is stalling because of a positive remark he made about Saddam Hussein, liking a social media post comparing Jews to monkeys, and for his refusal to condemn Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians.
Still, in Hamtramck, residents have a choice of who they want to be the next mayor. Those candidates include Adam Alharbi, Hamtramck City Council Member Muhith Mahmood, and write-in candidate Lynn Blasey.
WDET reporter Nargis Rahman reported on the race, and joined The Metro to discuss.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Detroit is preparing for a mayoral election filled with “firsts.”
For the first time in a dozen years voters will elect a new leader to guide the Motor City, as Hizzoner Mike Duggan leaves to make an independent bid for governor.
And the next mayor will become either the first woman or, as far as city historians can tell, the first clergyman to ever sit atop Detroit’s government.
Blazing a political trail
History was on display at a recent news conference in Detroit’s Dexter-Linwood neighborhood.
Detroit City Council President and mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield stood in front of a historic-but-abandoned apartment building.
The structure is on a fast-track for development because of a program Sheffield helped create to address the city’s lack of affordable housing. She called it one of many initiatives she pursued during her dozen years on Council.
But Sheffield is also fully aware that she herself is at the precipice of Detroit history.
Mary Sheffield announcing her mayoral bid at a union hall in Detroit.
Sheffield is the first woman in more than 30 years to make it to the general election for mayor.
“I have thought about it,” she said. “I definitely lead with the fact that I’m the most experienced candidate, I just happen to be a woman. But I do think it sends a powerful message that we are ready for women leadership in Detroit. Most importantly it shows our next generation of women that they can be anything they put their mind to.”
Sheffield says she believes Detroiters are finally prepared to send a woman to the mayor’s office.
“That’s what I’ve heard. I’ve been campaigning for a year now and there’s a lot of excitement. In 324 years we’ve never had a woman lead. We’ve had 75 mayors in Detroit. Not one has been a woman. We’ve seen women lead in other cities, so it’s not new.”
Tough enough to be mayor
Many women have chaired Detroit’s City Council.
But some who sought the mayor’s job, like former Council Member Saunteel Jenkins, say they ran into gender-based roadblocks.
“There is still a real power base and a voting base that, for whatever reason, doesn’t believe women should be leading,” Jenkins said.
She came up just short of being one of the top two finalists in this year’s mayoral race.
But Jenkins is a veteran campaigner for political office.
And she says women candidates deal with a level of scrutiny their male counterparts do not.
“Things as little as the height of the heels you wear or if you have on heels at all,” Jenkins said. “I was talking to someone just recently about when Jennifer Granholm ran the first time for governor in Michigan and how much time they spent even on her hair color. Because people would judge her based on how blonde she was or was not.”
Jenkins had navigated political gauntlets before.
Yet despite having served as City Council president and the CEO of a non profit, Jenkins says it was clear a different standard applied to being the executive officer of Detroit’s government.
“There were people who said, ‘Leading Council, that’s amazing. But the mayor’s office? You sure you want to do that? That’s a tough job.’ As if women would not be tough enough to do that. And that was a question I was asked often, are you tough enough for this job? It’s not something that people would ask a man.”
Mixing ministry with the mayor’s office
The candidate vying with Sheffield to be Detroit’s next mayor has faced his own questions — because he is a man of the cloth.
The Rev. Solomon Kinloch, Jr. spent his primary election night victory speech hammering Sheffield. Not for her gender, but for what he alleged is her neglect of neighborhoods where a majority of children still live in poverty.
“Where do we go from here? Detroit deserves results,” Kinloch told the crowd of supporters. “We deserve more than you just talking the talk. We deserve you stepping up and standing up and walking the walk.”
Russ McNamara interviews Rev. Solomon Kinloch in the WDET studio ahead of Detroit’s mayoral election.
Kinloch has said he’ll continue pastoring his Triumph Church if he’s elected mayor. He calls his campaign an extension of his ministry.
“This gives an opportunity to see the preacher in a different role. To know that all of us got a responsibility, not to just do something from a spiritual perspective, but to do something social and political. That’s my rearing and my raising. And if I don’t do nothing else, I believe that this is a great opportunity to inspire an entire city that ordinary people can do some extraordinary things.”
The bully political pulpit
But other pastors in the Motor City say mixing politics and the pulpit often means walking a treacherous moral tightrope.
The Rev. Nicholas Hood III was a Detroit City Council member in the early 2000’s and twice made unsuccessful bids for the mayor’s office.
Hood says while on Council he had to serve both the public and his own conscience.
“It’s one thing to take a position on any issue from the perspective of political expediency. But then to add the burden of deciding if this is morally right. Does this position jive with my faith and what I think God would expect of me?”
Hood says running for office was not exactly what some of his congregation expected. Or approved of.
“My church members always raised an eyebrow. They were proud of me. I think they still are. But people would say, ‘I don’t want you to be corrupted. Politics is corrupt.’ I would always counter, ‘But that’s all the more reason why you need people like me to get engaged.’ ” Detroit’s churches do have a history of being politically active.
Sheffield noted that fact during a recent and contentious televised mayoral debate with Kinloch.
She said, “We have a pastor here who has not developed one unit of housing. But we have a lot of your peers who’ve joined in our faith-based initiative, where we’re gonna be supporting our faith-based institutions to spur economic development and build housing here in the city of Detroit.”
Kinloch’s response was one of many testy exchanges between the two mayoral contenders.
“Mary, it’s disingenuous for you to assault me and my church for all of the work that you know we’ve done in this community. Triumph Church and Solomon Kinloch have done more for this community than anybody you know.”
Detroiter Ronald Ferguson, for one, says he’s seen broken streetlights come on and blighted buildings come down in his neighborhood.
But Ferguson questions how much Sheffield had to do with that.
He says Kinloch’s message of reducing poverty resonates with him.
“I feel he’s for the people. And I think he’ll do a better job than what we’ve seen over the past 6-10 years from his opponent,” Ferguson said. “She’s been Council President for so long. Yet where’s all the results from her efforts? So I’m ready to try something different to see if I can get a different result.”
But there’s a different vibe at a watch party where Detroiters viewed this month’s acrimonious televised debate.
Voters there, like Arlyssa Heard, had few concerns about Sheffield’s record.
Heard says she values both Sheffield’s service and the historic nature of the Council President’s run for mayor.
“I think it’s important,” Heard said. “I think it also is a statement that as long as you’re qualified, whether you are a woman or a man, it means something. But I think it would be great to see a woman lead this town. I don’t know if that’s gonna have anything to do with my decision. But I think it would make for some good things to talk about the next morning over coffee.”
When that sun rises after Election Day it will mark a new dawn for Detroit politics, whether it’s a woman or a minister set to occupy the mayor’s chair.
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DETROIT (AP) — Detroit voters will choose a new mayor Tuesday in the city’s first open-seat mayoral race in a dozen years.
City Council President Mary Sheffield and Triumph Church pastor Solomon Kinloch, both Democrats, will face off for the city’s top job after placing first and second in the Aug. 5 nonpartisan primary. The winner will replace outgoing three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor of Michigan as an independent.
The city faces a vastly different situation than it did when Duggan was first elected in 2013. In July of that year, it became the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy. The city now has a budget surplus, 12 years of balanced budgets and projected economic growth for the next five years. Homicides and violent crimes are down, while the city’s population has increased for the second consecutive year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Still, the next mayor will face numerous challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing and vast economic disparities along racial lines.
Sheffield has led the field in fundraising throughout the campaign. As of the August primary, her campaign fund more than doubled that of her eight competitors combined.
In the general election, she has far outraised and outspent Kinloch. As of Oct. 19, her campaign had spent more than $1.8 million on her campaign and had roughly $772,000 in the bank. By that same point, Kinloch had spent about $160,000 on the race and had less than $11,000 remaining in the bank.
Since receiving more than 50% of the vote in the August primary, Sheffield has picked up key endorsements from Duggan, as well as from two of her former primary opponents, former city council president Saunteel Jenkins and city council member Fred Durhal. Jenkins received 16% of the primary vote, narrowly losing a spot on the general election ballot to Kinloch, who received about 17%. Durhal received about 3% of the vote.
Soloman Kinloch (left) and Mary Sheffield (right) face off in the race for Detroit’s next mayor this November
The Detroit electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic. In the 2024 presidential election, voters in the city supported Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump by about a 9-1 ratio.
At a September rally in Howell, Michigan, Vice President JD Vance sent a public message to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that the administration is “happy” to send the National Guard to Detroit. “All you gotta do is ask,” he said.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Michigan’s mandatory recount law does not apply to Detroit’s mayoral race. Instead, candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the payment refunded if the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
What to expect on Tuesday:
How late are polls open?
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare the winner in Detroit’s mayoral race.
Who gets to vote?
Any voter registered in Detroit may participate in the mayoral general election.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
There were more than 518,000 registered voters in Detroit as of the August mayoral primary.
Turnout in that primary was about 17% of registered voters. About 32% of mayoral primary voters cast their ballots in person, while the remaining 68% voted early in person or by absentee ballot.
Turnout in the 2021 mayoral general election was about 19% of registered voters, with about 67% of voters casting early or absentee ballots.
As of Monday, nearly 45,000 ballots had been cast in Detroit before Election Day.
How long does vote counting usually take?
In the August primary, the AP first reported results at 8:32 p.m. ET, or 32 minutes after polls closed. The vote tabulation ended for the night at 4:30 a.m. ET, with 100% of votes counted.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 364 days until the 2026 midterm elections and 1,099 days until the 2028 general election.
The federal government shutdown nearing the one-month marker. Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill remain locked in a standoff over a new budget.
As a result, funding on hand to support certain government programs is running out. That includes SNAP benefits — the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirms that it will not be able to provide food stamps to low-income families beginning in November.
Listen: Alex Hill talks about the impact of pausing food stamps on Detroiters
Alex Hill is project director of the Detroit Food Map Initiative, which surveys neighborhoods on grocery access. He says parts of Detroit will be especially hard hit.
“The estimated household income of houses that rely on SNAP is about $29 thousand,” says Hill, “so any household in that range is going to be having a really difficult time.”
He adds that SNAP households will feel a wide range of effects.
“People aren’t going to be able to work as well as they want to,” says Hill. “Kids aren’t going to be able to learn as well as they should. Folks who are reliant on taking medications on a regular basis — you have to take food when you take medicine.”
Hill says pausing SNAP benefits is likely to have a negative impact on grocery stores in low-income areas, that rely on customers using food stamps to shop. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services say pausing the food stamps program is likely to impact about 13% of Michigan households, with 1.4 million residents relying on the service.
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Lynn Blasey, 42, is a write in candidate for Hamtramck mayor. She says she decided to run after community members asked her to run.
“When some community members approached me, it was really asking me to be a voice or a viable choice that residents can feel more comfortable about,” she says.
Blasey is the co-director of Community Arts Partnerships for the College for Creative Studies. She has worked at the education department at the Arab American National Museum, educating people about Arab American communities.
Blasey ran and lost bids for the Hamtramck City Council in 2021 and 2023. She serves as the vice chair of the Hamtramck Arts and Culture Commission.
She created the Hamtramck Area Disaster Recovery Group as part of flood recovery efforts for FEMA after the floods in 2021.
Uplifting Hamtramck
Blasey says she’s concerned about Hamtramck’s public image.
“People across the world have some pretty negative opinions of our city, and so this is a really good opportunity to sway that narrative and help celebrate the wonderful, magical things that make this community so unique and diverse,” she says.
Blasey says she’s disappointed by the recent election fraud in the city.
“I have spoken up previously about the effects cheating has and that people doing it continuously is a degradation of our democracy and really weakens the whole system,” she says.
Blasey says she would like to hold people accountable by taking a firm stance against people who don’t respect the law.
She says it’s important to communicate and connect with community leaders and organizations in Hamtramck to bring people together.
“I think we need to return to having more town hall meetings, utilizing some of our public spaces when there are some of those more challenging issues on the table, really taking those to the community,” she says.
Supporting the arts and businesses
Blasey is connected to the city’s arts community. She says more can be done to leverage artists.
“There is a huge design economy, arts economy, that Hamtramck is not really tapped into. We have a lot of artists here, but we’re not capitalizing on that,” she says.
Blasey is a part of the Hamtramck Downtown Development Authority’s Organization & Promotions sub-committee.
“I think there are some really uniquely Hamtramck ways that we can attract new businesses,” she says.
She says it’s important for people to work together, building on each other’s strengths.
“I think there is so much value in bringing people together,” she says.
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Almost a decade ago, President Donald Trump began campaigning on a very different American policy than the one we previously had. He wanted America to be tougher on China, to build a wall across the Mexico-American border, and to put “America first.”
Today, a lot of that strategy has remained intact, some of it even influencing the Biden administration’s policies.
How do Americans feel about our country’s foreign policy stances? And, how do they want to see America lead?
This month, she began speaking with people around the country about what they make of American foreign policy. She is in town to understand how people in metro Detroit feel about the topic, and joined The Metro to share her findings.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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A lot of these problems are big. To solve them, Detroit relies on money from the federal and state government.
So, how much can one city with limited resources do to halt the rate of homelessness—and even reverse it?
With the mayoral election next month, Anthony Eid joined The Metro to discuss these things. He’s the senior director of public policy for the Community Development Advocates of Detroit, and the policy and advocacy coordinator for COTS, a housing agency in the city.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Don’t buy that new car yet. If you can wait, you’ll have new 2026 model year options that aren’t out yet. Although some models barely change, others are completely redesigned and often get the latest features and improvements. Whether you’re interested in improved fuel economy, cutting-edge technology, or maybe just fresh and distinctive styling, there’s likely a car on the horizon that you’ll be interested in. To ensure you don’t miss out on the latest and greatest, the car experts at Edmunds highlight five vehicles you should consider waiting for.
Small SUV: 2026 Toyota RAV4
America’s bestselling SUV is getting completely redesigned for the 2026 model year. Notably, the new RAV4 is going all-hybrid for 2026. Trust us, this is a good thing. The base RAV4 should get about 40 mpg for combined city/highway driving and produce a respectable 226 horsepower. Alternatively, you can get the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid. It makes a sporty 320 horsepower and can drive an estimated 50 miles on all-electric power with a fully charged battery. Toyota has also modernized the RAV4’s interior with a fresh design featuring large display screens and the brand’s latest tech. The RAV4 will be available in several trim levels, including the outdoorsy RAV4 Woodland and the new sporty GR version.
Estimated starting price: $33,000
Midsize SUV: 2026 Subaru Outback
This photo provided by Subaru shows the 2026 Outback. The 2026 Outback introduces a taller, boxier body style that brings it more in line with two-row midsize competitors like the Honda Passport and Toyota 4Runner. (Courtesy of Subaru of North America via AP)
The Outback gets a full redesign for 2026. Subaru has moved on from the Outback’s wagon profile in favor of a taller, boxier design that’s meant to be more SUV-like. If the new styling isn’t for you, the new interior likely will be. It’s a big departure from the outgoing design. It’s highlighted by a new infotainment system that has sharper-looking graphics and quicker responses to your touch. Unchanged, thankfully, is the Outback’s impressive 8.7 inches of ground clearance that’s helpful for wintertime travel and recreational off-roading. The rugged Wilderness model also returns to provide even more off-road capability. Expect the new Outback at dealerships this fall.
Starting price: $36,445 (including destination)
Midsize three-row SUV: 2027 Kia Telluride
Kia’s Telluride has been one of Edmunds’ favorite midsize SUVs ever since it debuted for the 2020 model year. The Telluride is spacious inside, comfortable, and loaded with features. It also has an upscale design both inside and out, and it delivers big on value thanks to an agreeable price. Now, for 2027, a redesigned Telluride will debut. Kia won’t release official information on the next Telluride until late November, but we can get an idea of what to expect from the related Hyundai Palisade that has already been unveiled. We expect the new Telluride will have new technology features and, most notably, an available hybrid powertrain that could help this family hauler get more than 30 mpg.
Estimated starting price: $39,000
Sporty coupe: 2026 Honda Prelude
This photo provided by Honda shows the 2026 Honda Prelude. After more than two decades on hiatus, the two-door Prelude returns with a twist: It’s a hybrid — and a good-looking one at that. (Courtesy of American Honda Motor Co. via AP)
Honda’s sport coupe from the 1980s and 1990s returns as a hybrid-powered coupe later this year. The new Prelude makes 200 horsepower, which is likely underwhelming for acceleration junkies. On the upside, however, the Prelude should get more than 40 mpg combined. It should also be fun to drive on twisty roads. Honda has given it a sophisticated suspension that should help the Prelude have sporty handling as well as a comfortable ride quality. The new Prelude has two small rear seats and a hatchback-style trunk, so it should be reasonably useful for everyday driving. Interestingly, Honda says there will be only one trim level of the Prelude and it will come fully loaded with features.
Estimated starting price: $38,000
Full-size truck: 2026 Ram 1500 Rev
This photo provided by Ram shows the 2026 Ram 1500 Rev. The Rev combines a gas engine that acts as a generator, a big battery pack, and two electric motors to make an electrified pickup like we’ve never seen before. (Courtesy of Stellantis via AP)
The Ram Rev, formerly called the Ramcharger, is what Ram calls a range-extended electric truck, which is similar to a plug-in hybrid. The Rev has a large battery pack and two electric motors that provide an electric driving range of 145 miles and produce 647 horsepower. When the battery runs low, a V6 engine fires up and charges the battery, extending the total driving range to 690 miles. When the tank gets low, you can pump gas or charge the battery to hit the road again. The Rev touts an impressive towing capacity of 14,000 pounds and looks much like a regular Ram 1500 inside and out. We expect the hybrid Ram to hit the market sometime in 2026.
Estimated starting price: $65,000
Edmunds says
These five vehicles above are worth the wait because they will each provide compelling attributes that either significantly improve upon the current model year’s vehicle or provide a distinctive new take.
This photo provided by Toyota shows the 2026 RAV4. The new RAV4 is similar to the previous one but has an improved interior and newer technology features. It will also come exclusively with a hybrid powertrain. (Courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown likely means there won’t be an inflation report next month for the first time in more than seven decades, the White House said Friday, leaving Wall Street and the Federal Reserve without crucial information about consumer prices.
“Because surveyors cannot deploy to the field, the White House has learned there will likely NOT be an inflation release next month for the first time in history,” the Trump administration said in an email.
Some of the inflation data is collected electronically, but most is gathered in person by government employees who visit stores across the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which prepares the inflation report, has already reduced the data collected each month because the Trump administration’s hiring freeze left some cities without surveyors.
The announcement follows Friday’s release of September inflation data, which showed prices ticked higher but remained lower than many economists had expected. That report, which was delayed by nine days from its originally-scheduled release, was based on data that was collected before the shutdown began Oct. 1.
In past shutdowns the consumer price index — the government’s principal inflation measure — was compiled based on partial data. But it may be too late to gather even that level of information, the Labor Department said.
A woman looks at shoes at a Sam’s Club, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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