Freman Hendrix (born October 12, 1950) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. A Democrat, Hendrix served as deputy mayor for former Detroit mayor

Dennis Archer Dennis Wayne Archer (born January 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, jurist and former politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served as Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit. He later served as president of the Americ ...

from 1997 to 2001. He ran twice, unsuccessfully, as a mayoral candidate in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

: in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

against Mayor

Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repre ...

, and for the 2009 special election called to replace the ousted Kilpatrick.

History

The son of a black Army veteran, Emmanuel Freman Hendrix, and an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n-born woman, Rudolfine Ernegger, Hendrix was born in Inkster, Michigan, graduated from Inkster High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

in 1982, became a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity, and was initiated into the Delta Nu chapter at EMU; Hendrix served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

for four years. He later worked in the administration of former Wayne County executive Edward H. McNamara, and was himself elected to a two-year term as assistant county executive for Wayne County in 1991. He worked for

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's presidential campaign in

and managed

's successful mayoral campaign in 1994, serving as chief of staff from 1994 to 1997 and as deputy mayor of Detroit during Archer's second term. Mayor Archer concurrently named Hendrix chairman of the appointed Detroit School Board in 1999. He was among the 18

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

s chosen to cast Michigan's votes in the Electoral College for Democratic Party nominee

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2005 campaign

The city's major daily papers, the ''

Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on February ...

'' and the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'', endorsed Hendrix. The alternative weekly, ''

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly newspaper located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. The ''Metro Times'' was an official sponsor of the now-defunct De ...

'', somewhat reluctantly endorsed Hendrix. Its editors deem Hendrix "has served the public without the taint of scandal, although soiled somewhat by his associations," and claims that as Archer's deputy, Hendrix bears some responsibility for the problems of the city that were still unsolved at the end of Archer's term. Interviewers from '' The South End'' asked Hendrix if he would consider a partnership of the city with the colleges of Detroit, to which he answered, "The short answer to that is yes, of course." Hendrix won the August 2 primary election by a comfortable margin, with incumbent Mayor

coming in second. After a successful campaign by incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick, in which commercials that exposed Hendrix support of a state takeover of the Detroit Public Schools were run, Hendrix lost support throughout the Detroit Community. He ultimately lost to Kilpatrick in the controversial November 8, 2005, election by a margin of 47% to 53%. Hendrix was named chief operating officer of Strategic Staffing Solutions and joined EMU in August 2006 as chief government relations officer, focusing on strengthening relationships with legislators in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

2009 campaign

Hendrix officially announced a second formal campaign for mayor of Detroit at the EMU Student Government meeting on October 7, 2008. After an inquiry by Student Body Vice-President Robert Philip Kull about his plans, Hendrix revealed his plans as a way of pushing for "honesty, transparency, and accountability".² Others who announced their candidacy were interim Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., Sharon McPhail, Coleman Young II, Nicholas Hood III, and

Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring at ...

; Hendrix ultimately came in third in the February 24, 2009, primary behind Cockrel and Bing (who was elected mayor). Hendrix was the top vote getter in the August 4, 2009 primary for a post in the Charter Revision Commission, receiving 11% of the vote.Gina Damron, Naomi R. Patton, and Suzette Hackney
Hendrix tops list for charter candidates: Top 9 in November to steer city changes
''

'' August 5, 2009 He resigned, however, from the commission on September 14, 2010, to join the Greektown Casino Hotel Board of Directors.

Electoral history

*2009 election for Charter Revision Commission (Detroit) **Freman Hendrix (D), 11% ** Teola Pearl Hunter (D), 8% **Ken Coleman (D), 8% **Jenice Mitchell Ford (D), 7% **Reggie 'Reg' Davis (D), 6% **Rose Mary C. Robinson (D), 6% **Ken Harris (D), 6% **John Johnson (D), 6% **Cara J. Blount (D), 5% *2009 special election for mayor (Detroit) (primary election) **

(D), 28.82% ** Kenneth Cockrel, Jr (D), 27.00% **Freman Hendrix (D), 23.21% **Warren Evans (D), 10.06% ** Coleman A. Young II (D), 4.10% *2005 race for mayor (Detroit) **

(D), 53% **Freman Hendrix (D), 47% *2005 race for mayor (Detroit) (primary election) **Freman Hendrix (D), 45% **

(D), 34% ** Sharon McPhail (D), 12% ** Hansen Clarke (D), 8%

External links

Freman Hendrix campaign web site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrix, Freman 1950 births Living people Politicians from Detroit American people of Austrian descent African-American people in Michigan politics Eastern Michigan University alumni 2000 United States presidential electors Michigan Democrats People from Inkster, Michigan 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century Michigan politicians 20th-century Michigan politicians