GOP meltdown may give Dems a shot at Candice Miller's congressional seat

By Chad Selweski
Deadline Detroit
Though the dust remains far from settled and three candidates already jumped into the race, U.S. Rep. Candice Miller’s surprise decision to call it quits could lead to such a fierce Republican primary battle for the open seat that a Democrat might have a shot at winning in the GOP-dominated 10th District. 

Beyond the presidential contest, the fight for the 10th District – comprised of several suburban and rural counties just north of Detroit, including Macomb County – will almost certainly take center stage in the 2016 Michigan elections. A field of six or eight top-tier Republicans likely will enter the fray, engaging in a monumental clash of egos, while Democrats may quietly coalesce around a single candidate.
It’s still the GOP’s race to lose – and they might find a way to do just that.
Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, scored re-election wins by landslide proportions since first capturing the seat in 2002.
As political pundit Jack Lessenberry observed, the 60-year-old incumbent could have kept her post “until her dentures fell out.”
But Miller not only decided it was time to return home from Washington, she took the unusual step of making her announcement on March 5, some 20 months before the next election.
That set the stage for a potential long, slow boil within the Republican Party, with volatile Macomb County politics at the center of the simmer.

To read more about the pugnacious field of GOP candidates and the impact of a Democratic name-game campaign, click here.