The surprising endorsement from the influential Detroit-based group comes as Gary Peters, above, a two-term Democrat who lives in Bloomfield Township, is challenging another incumbent, U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke of Detroit, as a result of redistricting by a Republican-led Legislature. Clarke in his first term, is the son of a Bangladeshi father and an African-American mother.
The two face each other in the Aug. 7 primary.
Others in the Democratic primary include former Detroit magistrate Robert Costello, Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence and former state Rep. Mary Waters. Lawrence and Waters are both black.
Hewitt told the Free Press the selection was based more on Peters' record than on any perceived failing of Clarke's.
"His record was more in keeping with what we were looking for," Hewitt said of Peters.
