Lynn Rivers won’t challenge McCotter in 2010

Former Rep. Lynn Rivers (Photo: Wikipedia)

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers won’t challenge U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican, in 2010.

Rivers used to represent the Wayne County portions of McCotter’s current district, before it was reapportioned in 2002. That year she was forced into a primary fight with U.S. Rep. John Dingell, which she lost.

When asked if she would run for Congress against McCotter, Rivers didn’t mince words.

“No chance at all,” she said. “That new district is probably not a good match for me.” She added that she has not been approached to run this year, but that she was in 2002 and declined.

McCotter turned in his weakest re-election performance in 2008 when he won 51 percent against attorney Joseph Larkin, a Democrat, who only spent $29,000 on his campaign. McCotter’s close call has put his seat on the list of early U.S. House battlegrounds.

But Democrats need a candidate, and none have come forth yet. Insofar as there is a list of possible candidates, it’s limited mostly to Democratic elected officials from the district. Leading the pack is state House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, but he declined entreaties from national Democrats in early March. Other possibilities include, but are not limited to, state Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, and state Reps. Richard LeBlanc, D-Westland, and Marc Corriveau, D-Northville.

Rivers said she didn’t know much about these potential candidates but noted Anderson and LeBlanc are well liked.

No matter who runs, Rivers said McCotter’s survival in the most recent election doesn’t appear to be a fluke, because he won in a district that Barack Obama carried by 54 percent.

“So that to me would sort of say that he’s established a relationship with the people he represents,” she said.

Nonetheless, Rivers said McCotter may be vulnerable if moderates turn on him and if the federal stimulus bill — which McCotter voted against — succeeds in pulling the economy out of recession.

“I think if he digs in and takes the straight Republican line on everything he may find himself in trouble that way,” she said. “If the stimulus package works, he, along with a lot of other Republicans, will have a lot of back pedaling to do.”

Since leaving Congress, Rivers has taught political science at Washtenaw Community College and the University of Michigan.

(Justin Miller is a political journalist based in Wayne County who has worked for Real Clear Politics, blogged for The Atlantic and covered the 2008 elections in Ohio for The New York Observer’s Politicker.com network of state politics news sites.)