City Name | Population |
Allen Park | 28,638 |
Belleville | 3,991 |
Dearborn | 109,976 |
Dearborn Heights | 63,292 |
Detroit | 639, 111 |
Ecorse | 9,512 |
Garden City | 27,692 |
Gibraltar | 4,656 |
Grosse Pointe | 5,423 |
Grosse Pointe Farms | 9,479 |
Hamtramck | 28,433 |
Harper Woods | 15,492 |
Highland Park | 8,977 |
Lincoln Park | 38,144 |
Livonia | 95,535 |
Melvindale | 12,851 |
Northville | 5,790 |
Plymouth | 9,730 |
River Rouge | 7,224 |
Riverview | 12,486 |
Rockwood | 3,289 |
Romulus | 23,989 |
Southgate | 30,074 |
Taylor | 63,409 |
Trenton | 18,853 |
Wayne | 17,593 |
Westland | 84,094 |
At large | George Wayne Aycock Jr. - Vice-Chairman |
District 1 | Barbara Aycock |
District 2 | Antonio Williams |
District 3 | Bevan Foster |
District 4 | Freeman Hardison |
District 5 | Chris Gurley |
District 6 | Joe Daughtery - Chairman |
At large | Mr. J. Tommy Sanders III |
District 1 | Mr. Don Christopher West |
District 2 | Mr. H. Len Henderson |
District 3 | Ms. Patricia A. Burden |
District 4 | Mrs. Jennifer S. Strickland |
District 5 | Craig Foucht |
District 7 | Mr. Wade Leatham |
Wayne County is Michigan's first "charter county", with a home rule charter setting up its structures within limits set in state law and constitution. Most Michigan county governments are structured according to state law, without a locally adopted charter. The city is governed pursuant to the Home Rule Charter of Wayne County, Michigan, and the Wayne County Code is the codification of Wayne County's local ordinances. Unless a violation of the code or other ordinance is specifically designated as a municipal civil infraction (or unless expressly otherwise required by applicable state or federal laws), the violation is a misdemeanor.
The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records for all areas except Detroit, administers public health regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. Most other local government functions – police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. – are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.
Wayne County has backed the Democratic Party candidate for president in every election from 1932 onward, often and more recently by wide margins. From 1896 to 1928, it had always voted Republican for president, or at least more Republican than Democratic. Its large population has helped swing the election to Democrats in many statewide elections since then, with candidates running up large margins here offsetting Republican majorities in most rural counties of Michigan. The last Republican candidate to carry Wayne County in a statewide election was Candice Miller when she won re-election to the Secretary of State office in 1998.