Mich. House race focuses on Detroit mayor scandal

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Voters on Tuesday weighed whether to nominate the Detroit mayor's mother for another term in Congress, deciding a primary that has focused in large part on a headline-grabbing sex scandal involving the mayor and a former top aide.

Voters also went to the polls in Missouri to pick nominees for governor, and in Kansas and Georgia to decide House and Senate races.

In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick fought to save her political career in a primary election driven by a City Hall scandal involving her son, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

After trailing in early returns, Kilpatrick overtook former state Rep. Mary Waters with the help of voters in Detroit, her political base.

With 71 percent of precincts reporting, Kilpatrick had 37.9 percent of the vote to former state Rep. Mary Waters' 37.6 percent and state Sen. Martha Scott's 24.5 percent.

Kilpatrick has faced little opposition since first getting elected to the House in 1996 after nearly two decades in the state Legislature.

But the three-way primary campaign has been the toughest of her congressional career, forcing her to confront questions about her son's conduct and who could best represent the struggling Detroit district.

Because the district is heavily Democratic, the primary winner will be heavily favored in the November general election.

Kwame Kilpatrick, 38, and his former top aide are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice — all connected to their testimony in a civil trial last year in which they denied having a romantic relationship.

But those claims have been contradicted by text messages in a scandal that has dominated news coverage in Detroit for months.

During the campaign, Waters repeatedly referred to the felony charges against the mayor and criticized the congresswoman for defending him. The former state representative released a scathing ad that contrasted the felony charges against the mayor with video of the congresswoman defending her son at a rally.

"The reason she got challenged on that was her own doing," Waters said. "If she had not been out publicly defending his behavior, it wouldn't have happened in the first place."

At a recent forum, the congresswoman said she supports her son and would "raise whatever he needs for his defense — as any mother in this room would do."

Scott has downplayed the scandal and argued that focusing on the mayor's troubles will do little to help the district, where many people have struggled with high unemployment and poverty.

Carolyn Kilpatrick has campaigned on her record in Congress, where she serves on the House Appropriations Committee and leads the Congressional Black Caucus.

In Missouri, Rep. Kenny Hulshof defeated state Treasurer Sarah Steelman on Tuesday for the GOP nomination for governor.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Hulshof received about 49 percent of the vote to Steelman's 45 percent.

Hulshof and Attorney General Jay Nixon, who easily won the Democratic nomination with about 85 percent of the vote over a little-known challenger, will square off in November for the chance to succeed Gov. Matt Blunt, who decided not to seek a second term.

Hulshof, who had the backing Missouri's most powerful business groups and of virtually every top Republican state official other than Blunt, who remained officially neutral, racked up large victory margins in his 9th Congressional District, carrying as much as 90 percent of the vote in some of those rural northeast Missouri counties.

In Kansas, former Republican Rep. Jim Ryun trailed early on in his attempt to reclaim the seat he lost in 2006.

Ryun, a former Olympian who held the world record in the mile for eight years, trailed State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins 52 percent to 48 percent, with 33 percent of precincts reporting.

In suburban Kansas City, anti-abortion prosecutor Phill Kline lost a tough primary challenge in his bid for a full, four-year term as district attorney of the state's most populous county.

Kline drew national attention with his investigations of abortion clinics when he was Kansas attorney general. He lost his 2006 re-election bid to an abortion rights supporter, but Republicans picked him to fill a vacancy in the Johnson County prosecutor's job.

Challenger Steve Howe, a former assistant district attorney, received 60 percent of the vote in his race against Kline. He will face Democrat Rick Guinn, another former assistant district attorney who now works in the attorney general's office.

In Georgia, former state lawmaker Jim Martin defeated Vernon Jones, chief executive of DeKalb County, to claim the Democratic nomination for the Senate.

The runoff win means Martin will face Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Martin led Jones by a comfortable margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, according to election returns compiled by The Associated Press.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_el_ge/state_primaries [link]