By Elena Durnbaugh
Assistant Editor
Posted: May 10, 2024 11:45 AM

Former Warren Mayor Jim Fouts filed to run for the 14th House District as a Democrat on Friday, posing a primary challenge to Rep. Mike McFall.

Fouts lost his appeal to seek a fifth term as mayor in a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision earlier this month. His name was removed from the 2023 mayoral ballot after Warren amended its city charter to disallow a sitting mayor, city council member, city clerk or treasurer from serving more than 12 years in that office (See Gongwer Michigan Report, April 2, 2024).

McFall of Hazel Park won the current 8th House District seat in 2022. His seat changed to the 14th for the 2024 elections after the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission redrew Detroit-area House seats this year following a court order.

Fouts ran for the House in 1976 as a Republican and then ran again in 1978 as a Democrat. He was elected to the Warren City Council in 1981 and served for 26 years as a Democrat. He was elected mayor of the city in 2007.

Mike Radtke, a Democratic political consultant and a Sterling Heights councilmember told The Detroit News and then posted on social media that Fouts should not be running as a Democrat because his ideas were old and outdated.

Fouts could not be reached for comment.