DETROIT -- So disillusioned are registered voters here over the scandal that led to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's resignation that officials predict 10 percent to 15 percent will turn out for today's primary to narrow the field of 15 candidates seeking to become Kilpatrick's first elected successor.
The leading candidates are the former City Council president, who under the city charter became interim mayor when Kilpatrick stepped down in September; a former Detroit Pistons Basketball star; the Wayne County sheriff, who runs the jail where Kilpatrick served his sentence; and a former deputy mayor who lost to Kilpatrick four years ago. The two candidates with the most votes in today's nonpartisan primary will face off in May, with the winner serving the final eight months of Kilpatrick's term.
The mayor's political career began unraveling after The Detroit Free Press published text messages showing that he and his top aide, Christine Beatty, lied when they testified that they had not had an affair. Their testimony came in a trial that led to an $8.4 million settlement with former police officers who claimed they were fired to stop an investigation that could have exposed the affair. Kilpatrick eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing justice and no contest to an assault charge.
City officials projected 10 percent to 15 percent participation among Detroit's 648,400 registered voters, meaning the average polling place will see fewer than 200 voters. Turnout in the last mayoral primary, in 2005, was 21 percent.
Besides the regularly scheduled mayoral election in November, the mayor chosen in May will have to contend with a budget deficit of as much as $300 million, one of the nation's highest unemployment rates and a failing school system.
Many of those who are voting see the election as a chance to move past the embarrassment caused by Kilpatrick.
"We need a fresh start and a fresh perspective," said Florida Williams, a retired nurse administrator for the city. Williams said had she voted by absentee ballot for the former Detroit Pistons star, Dave Bing, who owns a local automotive parts supplier.
Kilpatrick "dragged us into the sewer," Williams said, but Bing, who has never held elected office, "didn't have any connection to any of that mess."
For some Detroit residents, the large field of candidates is simply overwhelming.
"It's 16 degrees, and people are hunkered down and just trying to keep their jobs," said Lyke Thompson, the director of the Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University here. "Those factors alone are enough to distract people from getting out to vote."
