In a highly contested race in Michigan's 13th district, it all came down to Detroit...the city that boasts the country's WORST mayor. But even having the country's worst mayor did not make that much of a difference. Follow me below the fold...
The primary factor in Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick's WIN is the fact that two Black female Democrats refused to work together to take out the long standing Cheeks-Kilpatrick. Their names are Mary Waters and Martha Scott. Cheeks-Kilpatrick was down most of the night. But as the counts moved to Detroit, Cheeks-Kilpatrick's major source of support, (go figure) Cheeks-Kilpatrick pulled ahead (up by 7,000 votes in Detroit at 1am, see TennesseeGurl's post) and wrapped up this race.
With a victory by Cheeks-Kilpatrick that could have easily been avoided by either Waters or Scott falling back and endorsing the other, you'd think that one of the two would get a foot up the ass by any hater of Cheeks-Kilpatrick. Why would two Democrats be allowed to run against Cheeks-Kilpatrick, the incumbent of 12 years; the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus; one of the most powerful Black female politicians in the country? Just plain stupid. Martha Scott could have easily fallen back, endorsed Mary Waters, and ran for another position like city council. Gary Brown did it. He was considered running against Cheeks-Kilpatrick, but decided against running against his ouster's mom and is leaning towards a Detroit City Council run. This isn't to say he endorsed Mary Waters, but he was obviously smart enough to realize that running more than one candidate against Kilpatrick would SPLIT THE VOTE! Splitting the vote gave Cheeks-Kilpatrick the win of her life. She needs to kiss the ass of the voters of Detroit, realizing that it was them that saved her ass. If anyone in Michigan politics is pissed about Cheeks-Kilpatrick not having to clean out her office, direct your scorn to Martha Scott. Can you say...blacklisted?
Here's a lil nugget for the future...Mary Waters running as an independent in November. The Detroit Free Press updated the results Tuesday night, saying:
...even if Kilpatrick does manage a win tonight, which is by no means certain, Waters has signaled that she might run in November as an independent. That would be a long shot in the predominately Democratic district but already tonight 62% of the votes cast have been against the incumbent.
Now imagine the rematch...Mary Waters versus Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick with no Martha Scott to save Cheeks-Kilpatrick's ass. Though this is unlikely, seeing that Mary Waters would have to run as a write-in candidate or get the nod of a minor political party because the deadline to run as an independent was July 17th. One other thing that may save Cheeks-Kilpatrick's ass if Mary ran as an independent would be the fact that grassroots organizations like Michigan Democratic Future and Barack Obama's campaign are registering voters furiously in Michigan and many are likely to vote a straight Democrat. Can you say...Michigan's Green Party? Go find the Libertarians! What about a Killapatrick Party? I'd love to see a rematch!