Kilpatrick Pulls Out Narrow Primary Win
Updated: 2:01 a.m. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) was in the fight of her political life as primary results continued to trickle in early Wednesday morning. With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Kilpatrick led with 39 percent of the vote compared with 36 percent for former state Rep. Mary Waters. The race was so close it wasn’t until the wee hours of Wednesday morning that Kilpatrick was able to celebrate her primary win. “It was a close race and it came down to the wire, but there’s only one winner,” the Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I’ll be your Congresswoman until I decide to retire.” During the campaign, Waters made an issue of the fact that Kilpatrick has stood by her son, embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, whose tenure in office has been stained by personal scandal. Most recently, Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted with eight counts following the aftermath of a whistle-blower trial. Turnout was extremely light in Tuesday’s balloting, and Detroit precincts were among those that were slow to report.