Kenneth Vern Cockrel Jr. (born October 29, 1965) is an American journalist, nonprofit executive, businessman, and former politician who served as the 73rd mayor of Detroit, Michigan from September 2008 to May 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Cockrel served as a member of the Detroit City Council from 1997 to 2008, and again from 2009 to 2013, and as the Council's president from 2005 to 2008 and May to December 2009. On September 17, 2008, Cockrel was sworn in as the city's interim mayor following Kwame Kilpatrick's resignation, with his term in office beginning September 19.