WASHINGTON _ The expected announcement on Tuesday from Michigan Rep. John Conyers Jr. that he will not run for re-election in 2018 will lead to a crowded Democratic primary in a safe Democratic seat that hasn't been open in decades.
State Sen. Ian Conyers, the congressman's great-nephew, first told the New York Times the congressman will make the announcement by calling in to a radio show Tuesday morning.
Ian Conyers plans to run for the 13th District. He was just elected to the state Senate last fall. Ian Conyers was a regional field director for former President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign in Michigan and later served as treasurer of the 13th District's Democratic Party committee.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called on Conyers to resign, but Ian Conyers maintains his family still has support in the district.
"People are ready to support our dean and to support our family as we continue to fight, as we have for leading up to a century, for people from Southeast Michigan," Ian Conyers told the New York Times.
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon would also likely run, according to a Democratic operative in the state. He served 26 years in the Detroit Police Department, retiring as the chief of police. He lost a 2013 bid for Detroit mayor.
Former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan legislature, could run, too. When she was elected in 2008, she was only the second Muslim woman elected to any state legislature in the country.
Another contender could be state Sen. David Knezek, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. The youngest state senator in the state, he previously served in the state House and served two tours in Iraq with the Marines.
First elected in 1964, Conyers is the longest-serving current member of the House. The race for his Detroit seat is rated Solid Democratic by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.
