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.
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).