By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — Incumbents U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-12th District) and state Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-9th District) won their respective primary elections Aug. 4 and will be on the general election ballot come November.
For Congress, Dingell faced and defeated University of Michigan medical student Solomon Rajput on the Democratic side. She received 52,361 votes and Rajput received 9,224.
Dingell will face Republican Jeff Jones, who ran unopposed, on Nov. 3 for her fourth term.
“I am so grateful to all of my friends, supporters, community for their friendship and support and for just being there for the last few months,” Dingell wrote on Facebook Aug. 5. “COVID has turned the world upside down, worried and trying to help as many people as possible, can keep you from sleeping. I am troubled about so many people everyday, trying to help in so many different ways.
“Primaries provide the opportunity for a real exchange of ideas and there is too little of that these days. And primaries can make you tougher, teach you (which mine did) and they make you stronger candidates and elected officials.”
Rajput put out his own statement following the election results saying that the results weren’t what he and his team wanted.
“We didn’t win, but we won the hearts of over 20,000 voters across the district,” he said. “We did this with no institutional support, very little money, and no previous experience. That is a huge accomplishment and much further than most people through we would go. To all of our supporters and voters: thank you.”
In the state House 9th District race, Whitsett faced three other Democratic candidates finishing with 4,996 votes. Roslyn Ogburn received 3,437 votes, Marc Cummings received 2,032 votes, and Nicole Elock received 717 votes.
Unopposed Republican James Stephens will be on the general election ballot against Whitsett. The winner will serve a two-year term.
“You believe in me and I will continue to work hard for you! I will never take your trust for granted,” Whitsett wrote in an Aug. 6 Instagram post. “You will always come first.”
For all Wayne County election results, go to www.waynecounty.com/elected/clerk/election-results.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])