"Someone who is the demographics of my district": Rising Dem star's opponent commits a racial gaffe

Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-MI) went from being a college student to serving as Michigan House Democratic Whip in less than five years.

Darrin Camilleri’s star has been rising in Michigan Democratic politics.

In 2016, Trump won the 23rd State House district by 12 points. Yet Camilleri, the young Maltese-Mexican-American and first-time candidate, flipped the district — the only Democrat to do so in any Michigan House district that year. Camilleri’s work — both in the House and on the campaign trail — paid off even more decisively in his 2018 re-election, which he won by 12.5 points.

This year, Camilleri is up for re-election to what would be his final term. (Legislative term limits are bad — but that’s another story.) But Republicans struggled to find anyone to run against him this time.

In fact, only one Republican jumped in before the filing deadline: John Poe.

Unfortunately for Republicans, Poe just got caught “saying the quiet part out loud.”

While Poe is far from the ideal recruit for State House Republicans, he could still win. Republican U.S. Senate nominee John James beat Sen. Debbie Stabenow by four votes in this district, and now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer carried the district by fewer than four percentage points.

Camilleri isn’t taking anything for granted — and neither can we.