Yesterday I got an e-mail Chanica Adams asking me to sign her petition for a special election in Michigan’s 13th U. S. House district.
As you might recall, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D) voted against the American “Health Care” Act, the “Cut Cut Cut” Act and other Republican scams against the middle class.
Those votes would have been a fitting end to a legacy of service in Congress dating back to 1965. A legacy tarnished by sexually harassing a woman in his staff and later paying her hush money out of taxpayer funds.
Allegedly, I should say; just as with Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Conyers stepped down before an ethics committee could investigate. I’m not going to get into the issue of zero tolerance here, what matters is that Franken and Conyers are out now.
The rules for replacing a senator are different from the rules for replacing a congressman, and the circumstances are different, too.
Gov. Mark Dayton (D-Minnesota) named his lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to Franken’s seat, which she will hold at least until the special election in November.
Meanwhile, here in Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who has yet to be criminally charged for his part in the Flint water contamination, set a date for a special election for the House seat vacated by Conyers to take place in…
November. Supposedly because real special elections cost too much.
That means that the district won’t have a voice in the House until November, assuming the winner is seated in a timely manner. There’s no guarantee of that as long as Republicans hold a majority in Congress.
Chanica Adams makes a good point about Snyder and voter suppression:
In 2012 Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed legislation calling for voter ID in Michigan, earning praise while Michigan was redrawn into one of the most gerrymandered states in the United States. Our voting power was diluted to the point that a voter ID law wasn’t necessary to suppress our power.
I don’t live in the 13th District. But I might, if it was gerrymandered just a little differently. It’s not just part of Detroit that is being disenfranchised, but also other bits and pieces of Wayne County.
In particular, looking at the map, notice how Dearborn Heights is split up between the 12th and 13th districts.
It’s possible but highly unlikely that a Republican might win the seat. In 2016, Ballotpedia rated the district as “safely Democratic.” And no Republican has filed this year, as of today.
There are already eight Democrats heading into the primary for the seat, including Ian Conyers and John Conyers III. After George W. Bush and Coleman Young II, I’m not too keen on voting for relatives.
I remember that I stopped voting for Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick soon after the disgrace of her son, though she managed to hold on for a little bit, if I recall correctly.
I heard rumors that Coleman Young II’s clumsy run for Detroit mayor was to get name recognition for a U. S. House run, and now he’s filed. But maybe he was expecting Conyers to hang on a bit longer.
I’m still not too impressed with Young II, and I damn him with faint praise by saying that he’d be better than whoever the Republicans dredge up.
Fortunately there are also candidates I can see myself becoming enthusiastic for, like Michael Gilmore and Brenda Jones. And Rashida Tlaib has a record of standing up to bridge billionaire Matty Moroun during her time in the state legislature.
Let’s say the primary was tomorrow, I would probably vote for Tlaib. I have no faith in Michigan Republicans to nominate anyone decent. But the primary is not until August.
If this district was a safely red district being denied a timely special election, the Tea Party wackos would already be howling about taxation without representation.
Snyder is smart enough to know that the next congressperson from the 13th will almost certainly be a Democrat. Snyder is also smart enough to know that the Republican agenda is so toxic that some Republicans don’t always fall in line.
The “tough nerd” can indeed call himself a nerd, but when Republicans in the state legislature disagree with him, Snyder loses his spine and signs the nonsense bill they send him.
By doing his part to have one fewer Democrat in Congress over the next few months, Snyder is prioritizing the Republican agenda in Congress over the right of the people of District 13 to be fully represented.
That is wrong. The District 13 primary needs to be as soon as possible. Maybe not tomorrow. How about March 13? Or March 20? That should give the Republicans time to choose a sacrificial candidate. And then the special election can be in April or May.
If there is money in the state budget for Snyder to hire lawyers in the Flint case when he hasn’t been charged with anything yet, there is money in the state budge to hold a special election in one House district.