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Mayor Duggan answers questions on the Wayne State "Make Your Date" survey
Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, whose personal life has been the subject of media reports in recent months, is now on the verge of divorce.

Mary Loretto Maher, his wife for more than three decades, filed for divorce on Friday in the Wayne County District Court.

The divorce petition comes one month after a Free Press investigation raised questions about Duggan's ties with Dr. Sonia Hassan, a doctor at Wayne State University, who runs a maternal health program backed by the mayor.

Online court records show that Maher, who often goes through Lori, filed the divorce suit on Friday. Lawyer Julia Perkins, a partner with the law firm Varnum, was selected. Perkins could not be contacted immediately for comment.

The information available through the online court contains limited information on divorce. The record shows that the complaint was filed Friday and that a conference for a transaction is scheduled for August 2.

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Mayor Mike Duggan gives a press conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 in his press room of the Coleman A. Young building in Detroit. (Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press)

Neither Duggan's spokesman, John Roach, nor his chief of staff Alexis Wiley, could be reached for comments by the Free Press. The couple issued a statement to several media outlets confirming that he had made the painful decision to divorce. Many attempts to obtain the declaration of city officials were unsuccessful.

Six months ago, Duggan and Maher defended their wedding after Detroit businessman Robert Carmack broadcast a surveillance video showing Duggan and Hassan arriving in the same suburban residence. 39, last year.

More: Mayor Mike Duggan refuses to answer questions about his relationship with a doctor

"We decided to write this statement together because we are proud of the marriage we have built in 32 years, proud that our life bond remains strong today and proud of our goal of spending the rest of our lives. our lives together, "reads the statement.

Duggan and Hassan have repeatedly refused to talk about the nature of their relationship in recent months.

The City of Detroit and Duggan have supported Hassan's Make Your Date organization, with federal grants of $ 358,000 from 2015 to 2017 and a fundraiser in 2017. The Inspector General of Detroit has opened a survey the support of the city to Make Your Date.

"I will never talk about my personal life, as you well know," said Duggan at a press conference last month.

Editor Kathleen Gray contributed to this report.

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