After '08 scare, Cheeks Kilpatrick gets another primary challenger

Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) will have to fend off a primary challenge again this year after almost losing a primary battle in 2008.

Cheeks Kilpatrick, the mother of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, will face a challenge from state Sen. Hansen Clarke in the Democratic primary, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

The challenge comes after Cheeks Kilpatrick narrowly survived a three-way primary with just over 39 percent of the vote, with two other Democratic state lawmakers splitting the rest of the vote. The strong primary challenge came on the heels of her son's legal woes and eventual resignation as mayor, a political scandal which is still reverberating in the Detroit media.

Clarke said he hoped to raise $500,000 for the race, which is well more than the two candidates to unseat Cheeks Kilpatrick, who reported having $347,000 in cash on hand at the end of 2009.

"I'm from the neighborhood. I'm a guy from the streets," he said. "So I don't think we're going to need a lot of money for commercials."

Clarke represents Michigan's 1st senate district, which falls squarely within Cheeks Kilpatrick's territory.

The winner of the primary will likely be the favorite to win the Detroit-area district in the general election.