Running the Best Campaign in the Room: How Todd Perkins Became Detroit's Most Visible Mayoral Candidate Through Strategic PR

A High Five PR Case Study | June–July 2025

Setting the Stage

In a crowded field of Detroit mayoral candidates, attorneys, politicians, pastors, and former police chiefs, one candidate stood out not just for what he was saying, but for how consistently the city could hear him say it.

Todd Perkins, Detroit native, Dartmouth graduate, founder and senior partner of the Perkins Law Group, and prominent community attorney, entered the 2025 Detroit mayoral race. Todd had a clear vision and a willingness to show up everywhere, all the time. High Five PR was there to make sure the city was paying attention.

The result: 46 media placements in a single month, reaching an audience of over 3.2 million people and generating nearly $87,000 in earned media value, in July 2025 alone.

July 2025: The Numbers

46 total media placements in a single month 3,217,955 total audience reached $86,892 in estimated earned media value (EMV) 10+ unique outlets covered Todd's campaign in July alone 1 in-depth candidate profile published by WJR 4+ separate WDET NPR radio appearances in a single week

Meet the Client: Todd Perkins

Todd Perkins is a Detroit native with deep roots in the city's neighborhoods and legal community. A graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Dartmouth College, he went on to build one of Detroit's prominent law practices as the founder and senior partner of the Perkins Law Group.

His 2025 mayoral bid was rooted in a bold platform centered on affordable housing, workforce development, small business growth, public safety, and economic revitalization — topics he had been speaking about publicly long before the campaign began. As an attorney who had navigated the city's legal landscape for decades, Perkins brought a policy-grounded, community-first perspective to every forum, debate, and media appearance.

What he needed was a PR strategy that matched the discipline and breadth of his vision. High Five PR delivered exactly that.

The Strategy: Omnipresence in a Crowded Field

Running for mayor in Detroit in 2025 meant competing for attention in one of the most closely watched local political races in the region's recent history. The field was large, well-funded, and included a former police chief, a sitting city council president, a prominent pastor, and several other credentialed candidates.

In that environment, visibility is not optional, it is the campaign. Our strategy for Todd Perkins was built on four principles:

1. Platform Saturation. We pursued coverage across every relevant media type — television, digital news, print, radio, and NPR, ensuring that no matter where Detroit voters got their news, they were encountering Todd Perkins.

2. Forum & Debate Placement. We strategically positioned Todd as a consistent participant in every major mayoral forum and debate, from small business panels to Juneteenth community events to high-profile Chamber-sponsored forums, keeping him in the conversation at every level.

3. Depth Over Soundbites. Rather than limiting Todd to brief mentions in multi-candidate roundups, we pursued long-form media opportunities, in-depth radio interviews, one-on-one candidate profiles, and editorial features, that gave voters the chance to understand his platform in full.

4. Social Media Management & Strategy. Earned media alone doesn't close the loop — it has to be amplified. We managed Todd's social media presence to ensure that every placement, every forum appearance, and every policy position reached his digital audience in real time. From sharing press coverage to crafting original content that extended the campaign's key messages, social media served as the connective tissue between Todd's media presence and the voters following along at home.

Where He Showed Up: Media Highlights

Broadcast Television Todd Perkins was a consistent presence on Detroit's top TV stations throughout the campaign. He appeared on WXYZ (ABC) — including a featured Spotlight on the News segment alongside fellow candidate Joel Haashiim — as well as FOX 2 (WJBK), where he was highlighted in coverage of the major July 15 mayoral forum in Corktown. His campaign was also tracked in real-time election coverage and candidate roundup segments across local news programs.

NPR & Public Radio One of the campaign's most significant earned media wins was a multi-segment, in-depth interview on WDET (Detroit Public Radio / NPR), one of the region's most trusted and influential news outlets. Todd spoke extensively about affordable housing, public-private partnerships, workforce development, and his vision for Detroit's future — giving voters and influencers a substantive look at his platform in a format that rewarded depth and credibility. He was also featured in coverage on WUOM (Michigan Radio / NPR), further cementing his presence in Detroit's serious policy conversation.

Radio Todd's campaign reached drive-time radio audiences through WDMK-FM and WCHB-AM, as well as the WJR Westwood One Network — including the Dan Bongino Show — expanding his reach into the Detroit metro's large daily radio audience. He also appeared on WWJ-AM (CBS News Radio), reinforcing his presence across the full spectrum of Detroit's audio media landscape.

Digital News & Print Todd was featured or cited in coverage from the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Chronicle, BridgeDetroit, Daily Detroit, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and WXYZ.com. Notably, WJR published a dedicated candidate profile — 2025 Detroit Mayoral Race | Todd Perkins — giving voters a comprehensive look at his background, roots, and platform in standalone editorial form.

Community & Cultural Media Todd's campaign extended beyond traditional news outlets into community-facing media. He appeared on the Healthy Woman Show on WJR and was covered by TelegramNews.net and BridgeDetroit, reaching neighborhood-level audiences and community stakeholders who are often the most engaged voters in local elections.

In the Room: Forums, Debates & Community Events

A major pillar of Todd Perkins' visibility strategy was physical presence, showing up at every table where Detroit's future was being discussed. Over the June–July 2025 period, Todd participated in or was featured in coverage of:

• The Small Business Matters Mayoral Forum (July 9) — hosted by the Detroit Society of Journalists and Michigan Black Business Alliance, covered by the Detroit Free Press, Detroit Regional Chamber, and multiple TV outlets.
• The July 15 Detroit Regional Chamber Mayoral Forum in Corktown — one of the most high-profile forums of the primary season, covered across FOX 2, WJR, and multiple digital outlets.
• The Eastside Community Network Debate — covered by Daily Detroit, featuring questions on housing, flooding, and transit.
• The Black Leaders Detroit Juneteenth Forum — covered by BridgeDetroit, reaching Detroit's civic and community leadership audience.
• The MAC Workforce Development Forum — covered by BridgeDetroit, highlighting Todd's detailed policy positions on jobs and economic growth.
• The Light Up Livernois Avenue of Fashion Community Event — covered by Michigan Chronicle, where Todd's campaign team was on the ground connecting directly with voters.

Visibility at the community level isn't a bonus — in a local election, it's the whole game. Todd Perkins understood that, and showed up to prove it.

What the Coverage Revealed: A Candidate Built for the Moment

Across 46 placements, a consistent portrait of Todd Perkins emerged: a Detroit-rooted attorney with specific, actionable ideas and the discipline to communicate them clearly across every media format.

On housing, he spoke to the need for a layered approach addressing low-income, market-rate, and affordable housing simultaneously, with public-private partnerships as a core mechanism. On workforce development, he advocated for a multi-stakeholder approach that connected schools, employers, and city government. On small business, he showed up at forums specifically designed to reach Detroit's entrepreneurial community and spoke directly to the challenges facing small business owners.

His platform was not vague. His media presence was not passive. And the earned media record reflects both.

The Verdict from Detroit's Most Respected Editorial Voice

Perhaps the most significant external validation of the campaign's PR strategy came not from a placement metric, but from a professional assessment. Nancy Kaffer — Editorial Page Editor, columnist, and editorial board member of the Detroit Free Press, known for her rigorous coverage of Detroit politics and policy — stated directly that Todd Perkins ran the best campaign in the field and was more publicly visible than any other candidate in the 2025 Detroit mayoral race.

In a competitive primary field that included some of Detroit's most prominent political figures, that is not a small distinction. It is the result of a deliberate, sustained, and strategic commitment to visibility, executed consistently, from the first forum to the final week of the campaign.

"When the city's top political journalist says you ran the best campaign, that's not luck. That's the result of a PR strategy built on showing up — everywhere, every time."

The Takeaway: What Political PR Done Right Looks Like

Todd Perkins' 2025 mayoral campaign offers a clear and instructive example of what strategic PR can accomplish in a high-stakes, highly competitive environment. With 46 placements in a single month, coverage across every major media platform in the Detroit market, sustained participation in every significant community forum, and the earned recognition of the Detroit Free Press editorial leadership — the results speak for themselves.

This wasn't about paid advertising or manufactured moments. It was about earned media, building a consistent, credible, and compelling public presence through strategy, preparation, and persistence.

That is what High Five PR does. And that is what it did for Todd Perkins.

Ready to Build Your Own Visibility Strategy?

Whether you're running for office, launching a brand, or establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field, High Five PR builds the kind of earned media presence that gets you noticed — and remembered.

📧 [email protected] 🌐 www.highfivepr.com