WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick lost her bid for an eighth term Tuesday, becoming the sixth incumbent lawmaker — the fourth from the House — to be fired by a frustrated electorate.
In a surprise primary outcome, political newcomer Rick Snyder dispatched Michigan’s attorney general, a longtime congressman and two others to win the Republican nomination in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero grabbed the Democratic nod, but the GOP candidate automatically became the favorite in the economically ailing state. Michigan has the nation’s second-highest unemployment rate — at 13.2 percent — and scores of foreclosures, and that has been a drag on the two-term Democratic governor.
