The latest person to take steps to run for Detroit mayor wants to annex 28 Metro Detroit communities so that the city will once again have 1 million residents.

Rogelio Landin, 71, a longtime political activist, filed paperwork Monday in Wayne County to create an exploratory committee. An exploratory committee is one of the first legal steps in declaring a run for office.

Landin believes by annexing 28 “distressed” communities in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counites, Detroit will once again have the clout that can go a long way in solving many of the city’s woes, such as lack of affordable housing, declining public education and inadequate mass transit, he said.

“There is one word that encapsulates of what everyone wants to do. And that word is: More,’” Landin said. “How do we get more? My answer to all of that is annexation. It’s how Detroit was built.”

Detroit’s population is currently around 633,000, according to the U.S. Census. The last time the city had more than 1 million residents was in the 1990s.

“If we were to take all those communities that are distressed, and help them find a way out of that distress, and put them together without losing their identities, we can change the image of this state and city” Landin said.

A distressed city or community refers to an economic index based on the employment rate, poverty level, education level of its residents along with business growth.

The advantages of a city with over 1 million people combines resources and “human capital,” and traditionally be eligible for much more federal revenue, Landin said.

Landin has long history of being involved in Latino civil rights groups in southwest Detroit. He is currently president of the state chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC. He’s a contributing political columnist for El Central newspaper in Detroit.

In recent years, he’s also been involved in five neighborhood advisory committees. Those are committees made up of residents that work on community benefit deals with developers working on real estate projects over $75 million and receive major tax abatements or large amounts of city land.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who has been in office since 2014, is not seeking a fourth term. Instead, the longtime Democrat is running as an independent candidate for Michigan governor in 2026.

The August primary will narrow the candidates to the top two vote-getters, who would then face off in the November general election.

Landin is the ninth person to form an exploratory committee to run for Detroit mayor. But one of those potential candidates, former House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, has decided not to run.