Posted on 03/13/2012 6:06:55 AM PDT by cripplecreek
Michigan Democrats are trying to convince former Rep. Joe Schwarz to run, Dave Wasserman, U.S. House editor for the newsletter, said on Twitter on Monday evening.
He cited unnamed Michigan sources, who said the Democrats are "close" to getting Schwarz to run against Walberg.
Walberg, R-Tipton, represents the 7th Congressional District that includes Jackson County. Schwarz, of Battle Creek, lost to Walberg in the 2006 Republican primary.
Schwarz lives outside the district now that boundary lines have been redrawn. But U.S. House candidates are not required to live in a district to represent it.
Even the Democrats know that a Democrat cannot get elected this year.
Even as a republican Schwarz was a top percentile democrat.
at least he’s going to admit what he really is and run for the party he really represents.
Battle Creek is now in the MI-03, right? Sorry about that, Joe.
BTW, Schwarz is not a RINO, since he’s no longer even a putative Republican. He’s an ex-RINO, now out of the closet as a Democrat.
He doesn’t have to be in the district to run here but I think it will cripple him pretty severely.
A little history pro abortin Dr Joe.
Won the 7th district seat in a 5 man race in 04, lost the primary to Walberg in 06 and announced a write in campaign in the final weeks of the general election which Walberg won. Endorsed Marxist Mark Schauer over Walberg in 08, Walberg lost that race. Endorsed Mark Schauer in 2010 then switched his endorsement to republican challenger Brian Rooney but Walberg retook the nomination and the district seat.
This little vendetta is getting pretty old.
The only thing they can win now is the city of Jackson and Albion, and there just aren't enough votes there.
I know that one doesn’t need to live in a congressional district to run there (Article I merely requires that one be an inhabitant of the *state* that one represents in the House of Representatives), but without Battle Creek and Calhoun County in the MI-07 there won’t be any areas in which Schwarz will outperform a standard Democrat, and he won’t be able to beat Walberg.
And, yes, I remember Schwarz’s trajectory very well, winning the GOP primary in the MI-07 with like 30%, voting like the RINO that we all knew he was, and getting his panties in a bunch after Walberg beat him in the 2006 primary. Why the MI legislature hasn’t adopted run-offs in cases in which no one gets 50%+1 (or at least 40%+1, like NC does) in the primary is beyond me. If a white guy beats out Clarke in this year’s primary because the black vote got split, maybe you’ll see Democrats call for run-offs to ensure that a majority of the party’s electorates approves of the nominee in each district.
OH, Joe. Say it ain’t so. Well Bless Your Heart! LOL
Does Gary Peters have a realistic shot at beating Hansen Clarke ? I see Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence is running as well (another Black candidate), but that would be stunning if Peters pulled an upset. The CBC would probably howl in horror since this district has been electing Blacks since Charles Diggs in 1954 (Conyers in the adjacent seat wouldn’t join him for a decade).
What’s baffling to me is seeing Rusty Carnahan opting to run against Lacy Clay in MO-1 rather than running in the 2nd (I’m similarly surprised the CBC hasn’t criticized him for that).
Fred Upton faaces a conservative primary challenge and it appears to be a serious one.
Justin Amash needs to go, too.
I hope he gets the boot. I wouldn’t support Upton’s reelection even if his niece campaigned for him naked.
Peters’s chances of winning would be better if there wasn’t a fourth prominent Dem in the race—a white city official from Southfield who will likely do very well with the Jewish vote. But Peters still might get 30% and win, à la Cohen in TN-09.
I've had the displeasure of meeting him in person one time. I also sort-of know Tim. As people, they are complete opposites.
Monroe County is a union area though, so it won't be easy. The don't like anti-2nd Amendment politicians there though, and Joe Schwarz is more anti-gun than most other democrats.
I used to have family in Southfield, but I don't know much about Lawrence because my family's been out of there for almost 30 years.
There aren't many Jews or Irish/Polish Catholics left in Southfield. Almost all of the Jews moved to West Bloomfield and the Catholics out to Novi and beyond. Peters isn't Jewish, although he did represent a lot of the Jewish areas as a State Senator and Congresscritter.
I think Clarke will win, but I DO think John Conyers might be beat by Glenn Anderson in the neighboring district.
Southfield was Republican, but when Detroit Blacks started moving in, it tipped it to the Democrats and Lawrence beat the 30-year GOP Mayoral incumbent, Don Fracassi (although he’s back on the City Council), back in 2001 and she’s been the Mayor ever since.
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