Coleman Alexander Young II is a Democratic politician who is a current member of the Detroit City Council and a former member of the Michigan Senate. In the Michigan Senate, he represented the 1st district, which included the municipalities of Ecorse, Gibraltar, River Rouge, Riverview, Trenton, Woodhaven, Wyandotte and a portion of Detroit. He served as the vice chair of the Local Government and Elections Committee, General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee, Licensing And Regulatory Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee and Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. Young also sat on the Appropriations Committee and Insurance Committee. He previously served as the vice chair of the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Committee and Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee, as well as having previously served on the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Education Committee and Energy and Technology Committee. From 2011 to 2014, Young served as the Senate Assistant Minority Caucus Chair and also served as the Senate Assistant Minority Floor Leader.

The Detroit mayoral special election of 2009 took place on May 5, 2009. It was a special election to fill the remainder of the term of Kwame Kilpatrick who had resigned as mayor.