Southfield

Southfield mayor to run for Congress

By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

Mayor Brenda Lawrence has announced her bid to run for the open seat in the newly drawn 14th congressional district, joining competitors and sitting congressmen Gary Peters and Hansen Clarke.

“It’s a new congressional district, it is extremely diverse,” Lawrence said Monday. “It is a district I have lived in my entire life. I was born and raised in Detroit. I graduated from Pershing (High School). I bought my first home in Detroit and moved to Southfield. I have served here in Oakland County for over 20 years in public service.”

The results of the 2010 census showed a slight decline in population in Michigan in the last decade, causing the state to lose a congressional seat and prompting lines to be redrawn.

District 14 now includes Southfield, Lathrup Village, Farmington Hills, Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Pontiac, the southern half of West Bloomfield, parts of Detroit and all five Grosse Pointes.

Lawrence thinks the diversity of the newly drawn district is to her advantage.

“I have had the blessing of having a city that is extremely diverse,” she said. “The district is 57 percent African American, and (Southfield) is over 60 percent. (Southfield) has a very large and rich Jewish population; this district has one of the largest Jewish populations in the state. I have a very large Chaldean population; and this district has ‘Chaldean town’ and a very large population of Chaldeans, and others, like Armenians. … I have one of the largest Armenian churches, and it’s a large population in this district. So what I have is the opportunity here to continue my passion and really continue my performance of being inclusive, of having the skills and desire to have all the different voices at the table to make sure that they’re heard and respected.”

She said she’s eager to take on the responsibility of — if elected — being what she calls the only “Democratic progressive woman” in the state House of Representatives.

“I feel very strongly that women should have a voice at the table,” she said. “That is very exciting to me.”

When making the announcement of her decision to run, Lawrence posted on her Facebook page, “Send a woman to Congress! Number of women in the U.S. House from Michigan: 1 out of 15. Number of Democratic women: ZERO. Together we can change that.”

She believes her nearly three terms as Southfield’s mayor have given her special insight at the local level that she hopes to take with her to Congress, as well as her experience at the federal level.

“I’ve served long enough,” she said. “I’m chair of the National Democratic Mayors and I’m on the executive board — I’m a trustee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. I’ve been a regional voice. I testified (before Congress on the foreclosure crisis). I lobbied Congress for the automotive industry, and just this past week, being brought in with a small group with the White House administration to talk about the president’s agenda — the State of the Union, what are our needs and are they being discussed? Those are the types of things that I’ve been engaged in on a national level. It would be an honor for me to continue to represent this wonderfully diverse group of people, to be able to stand as a woman … and be a part of the diversity of Washington to ensure that our voices are heard.”

The campaign will have its challenges, Lawrence admitted.

“It is an open seat that will be very competitive,” she said. “Two sitting congressmen that don’t live in the district.”

Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, currently represents District 9, part of which was split up into districts 8, 11 and 14. Clarke, D-Detroit, represents District 13.

“I have a message, I have a base, and I have support of the people,” she said. “I’m not counting a bag of money to buy an election. I’m working hard, I’m touching people, and I’m getting the votes to get elected.”

Lawrence’s fellow city officials in Southfield learned the news of her campaign over the weekend.

“I think it’s good for Southfield,” said Southfield City Councilman Jeremy Moss, 25, who was elected in November as the youngest ever councilman in the city. “(We) have bounced around between different congressional districts in my lifetime. … I think this district was drawn very interestingly, but it provides a good opportunity to provide a voice for our community. That effective voice for Southfield is Brenda Lawrence. Looking at it from the perspective of a council member, I think it’s great for Southfield. She can really take our issues and represent us on a federal level that we’ve never seen before. This is big for Southfield.”

Longtime City Councilman and former Southfield Mayor Don Fracassi said he has “no personal feelings one way or another” on Lawrence’s new endeavor.

“Everybody has the right to do whatever they wish to do,” he said. “I just think that when you have a commitment — the way I commit myself to any job is I have to put myself 100 percent behind what I’m doing. Once you deviate from that, then you’re compromising what you’re supposed to be doing. Having been mayor for 30 years and a council president before and council president after, I see challenges that we’re facing as a city. The city has more challenges than I ever remember in the 43 years I’ve been with the city. I know that the title of mayor gets you through doors. … I just think that it’s important that whoever the mayor is, that they give their undivided attention to try to open doors and find out how we can maintain the financial integrity of the city, providing the fantastic services that we do provide, and that’s a challenge, a big challenge. Hopefully, if she does get elected, she’ll do her best to represent the district.”

Lawrence previously ran for Oakland County executive against L. Brooks Patterson in 2008 and for lieutenant governor as gubernatorial hopeful Virg Bernero’s running mate in 2010. Both bids were unsuccessful.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jennie Miller at jmiller@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1108.