DETROIT, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Democratic Michigan primary voters Tuesday appeared to be rejecting U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick's bid for an eighth term.
The Detroit News said with more than half the primary votes counted, state Sen. Hansen Clarke was leading Cheeks Kilpatrick 48 percent to 39 percent. The winner is expected to emerge victorious in the general election in November.
Cheeks Kilpatrick is the mother of convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Businessman Rick Snyder beat U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra and three other Republicans in Tuesday GOP primary and will face Democrat Virg Bernero in Michigan's race for governor.
The News and the Detroit Free Press declared Snyder, a first-time political candidate, the winner based on early results that showed him leading Hoekstra by 10 percentage points, 37 percent to 26 percent. State Attorney General Mike Cox was third with 24 percent.
Bernero, Lansing's mayor, was declared the winner over Andy Dillon with early results giving him a 61 percent to 39 percent edge.
So far, Snyder has spent nearly $6 million of his own money in his bid to succeed Jennifer Granholm, who cannot seek another term under Michigan law.
Bernero was a surprise winner, having trailed Dillon, the state House speaker, by a wide margin in pre-election polls, the News said. He has campaigned on the promise of working for the average guy against Wall Street bankers who are "robbing us of our recovery," the News said.
"This election is about one question: Whose side are you on?" he said after grabbing his primary victory.
