The 2009 Detroit mayoral special election took place on May 5, 2009, following a primary on February 24, 2009. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was elected in 2005, resigned after being indicted for obstruction of justice in 2008, elevating City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. as acting Mayor. Cockrel ran in the special election, and faced a crowded field of competitors, including businessman and former professional basketball player Dave Bing, former Deputy Mayor and 2005 mayoral candidate Freman Hendrix, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, State Representative Coleman Young II, and former City Councilwoman Sharon McPhail.
Cockrel placed second in the primary, winning 27 percent of the vote to Bing's 29 percent, and both advanced to the general election. Bing narrowly defeated Cockrel, 52âÂÂ47 percent. He was elected to a full term in the regular election later that year.