MI-13: Jockeying for Position

​When Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) resigned his seat at the beginning of this year, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) scheduled the replacement election concurrently with the regular campaign timetable.  In the August Democratic primary, the regular election and separate special election produced two different winners largely because not every regular election candidate entered the special election field.  The full-term Democratic primary winner is former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and she will almost assuredly be sworn into office as part of the new freshman class.  Yet, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones won the special election nomination to fill the unexpired portion of the current term.  This means, Ms. Jones would only serve in the coming lame duck session.
 
With no Republican on Tuesday’s ballot, Ms. Jones has now filed as a write-in candidate, launching a long shot effort to win the full term.  And, should she fail, which is a virtual certainty, Ms. Jones may decide not to serve in the lame duck session.   She has asked the House Ethics Committee to rule on her inquiry that would allow her to serve the short term without resigning her position on the Detroit City Council.  She is indicating that should the Committee reject her inquiry, she would likely decline to enter Congress in order to keep her local position.