The voters of Michigan sent mixed messages about their mood in yesterday's state primary, the 2010 results show. While a number of pre-poll favorites came up short in closely watched contests and a Detroit political dynasty came to an end, other favored candidates handily won their races.
The biggest surprises came in the Republican and Democratic primaries for governor. On the Republican side, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, a political newcomer, came from the back of the pack to overtake the two favored candidates, state Attorney General Mike Cox and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra. Snyder beat his closest opponent, Hoekstra, by a comfortable nine-percentage-point margin; the final tally was Snyder, 36 percent, Hoekstra, 27 percent, and Cox, 23 percent. The fourth candidate, Mike Bouchard, got 12 percent of the GOP Michigan primary vote.
The favored Democratic
candidate for most of the campaign, House Speaker Andy Dillon, also fell to a late surge by his opponent, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. Bernero won the Democratic primary, 59 to 41 percent, by running as a populist outsider in contrast to Lansing insider Dillon.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Results show Kilpatrick loses re-election bid in Michigan primary
The other big upset came in the 13th Congressional District in Detroit, which has been represented for years by Democrat Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick, the mother of former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, lost to State Sen. Hansen Clarke by a 47-to-41 percent margin. Clarke turned the contest into a referendum on Kilpatrick's son and her former husband, Detroit Democratic power broker Bernard Kilpatrick. The son is currently in jail on corruption charges, and the ex-husband is the target of a federal corruption probe.
Krikpatrick becomes the sixth incumbent lawmaker and the fourth sitting member of Congress to lose a re-election bid in a year that is shaping up as a tough one for incumbents of both parties.
In other notable primary news, voters in Missouri approved a ballot question that allows state residents to opt out of the individual mandates contained in the Obama administration's
health insurance plan. The new law will certainly face a challenge from the administration in court.
Krikpatrick becomes the sixth incumbent lawmaker and the fourth sitting member of Congress to lose a re-election bid in a year that is shaping up as a tough one for incumbents of both parties.
In other notable primary news, voters in Missouri approved a ballot question that allows state residents to opt out of the individual mandates contained in the Obama administration's
health insurance plan. The new law will certainly face a challenge from the administration in court.
Michigan Election Results Mean End of Kilpatrick Era
Last night in Michigan, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who had served seven terms, lost to State Sen. Hansen Clarke in the Democratic primary. The loss was due at least in part to the fall of Kilpatrick's son Kwame, and means that a once-prominent political family will have been swept out of public office.
Kwame Kilpatrick, of course, was mayor of Detroit until 2008, when he resigned amid a series of scandals. He ultimately went to jail for violating probation in May. (He has since been indicted on 19 counts of fraud and tax evasion.) His mother was dogged by questions about her son on the campaign trail, with NPR noting that "at almost every news event" she held, "the first questions center less on her work than on allegations her son faces."
Clarke, stating that "the image of the region is tainted by Detroit's reputation of being represented by arrogant, corrupt, self-serving politicians," stressed that he "can change the image so that we have a fresher one that'll attract jobs and investment here."
The Kilpatrick loss wasn't the only interesting race in Michigan last night: Rick Snyder, a former Gateway executive who cast himself as "one tough nerd," won the GOP nomination for governor, defeating more established politicians Attorney General Mike Cox and Rep. Pete Hoekstra in the process.
Snyder was the most moderate GOP candidate, and also the one with the most outsider credibility - suggesting that voters in Michigan may have been more concerned with electing someone lacking Washington connections than a candidate making a play for the far reaches of the right. The self-financed Snyder stressed the economy, not social issues.
He'll face off in November against Democrat Virg Bernero, the mayor of Lansing, in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Kwame Kilpatrick, of course, was mayor of Detroit until 2008, when he resigned amid a series of scandals. He ultimately went to jail for violating probation in May. (He has since been indicted on 19 counts of fraud and tax evasion.) His mother was dogged by questions about her son on the campaign trail, with NPR noting that "at almost every news event" she held, "the first questions center less on her work than on allegations her son faces."
Clarke, stating that "the image of the region is tainted by Detroit's reputation of being represented by arrogant, corrupt, self-serving politicians," stressed that he "can change the image so that we have a fresher one that'll attract jobs and investment here."
The Kilpatrick loss wasn't the only interesting race in Michigan last night: Rick Snyder, a former Gateway executive who cast himself as "one tough nerd," won the GOP nomination for governor, defeating more established politicians Attorney General Mike Cox and Rep. Pete Hoekstra in the process.
Snyder was the most moderate GOP candidate, and also the one with the most outsider credibility - suggesting that voters in Michigan may have been more concerned with electing someone lacking Washington connections than a candidate making a play for the far reaches of the right. The self-financed Snyder stressed the economy, not social issues.
He'll face off in November against Democrat Virg Bernero, the mayor of Lansing, in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
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