3 Lead In Race For Conyers’ Seat

DETROIT, MI
Three candidates have emerged as frontrunners in the Aug. 7 primary for the vacated congressional seat of former U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., who resigned over sexual harassment allegations on Dec. 5, 2017 after spending more than a half-century in office.

The top frontrunner, Brenda Jones has broad name recognition as the president of Detroit City Council, as well as dozens of endorsements. However, former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, an attorney has emerged as the top fundraiser in the race. Tlaib collected more than $893,000 through June 30 in her bid to become the first Muslim member of Congress from Michigan, according to news reports.

The third frontrunner is Westland Mayor Bill Wild. He has been mayor of Westland since 2007 and was re-elected for another term last fall. Before that, he was a member of the local planning committee and city council, including two years as president.

A recent poll compiled for the Free Press showed these three candidates are separated by no more than 7 percentage points, making it too close to call at this point. Nineteen percent remained undecided.