Ken Cockrel is running for City Council Again

**jhartmich** · May-11-09, 06:32 PM

Just got a notice from my union hall that Ken Cockrel is running for City Council again and that they are 417 signatures short. They need the signatures by Tuesday, May 12.

I guess being mayor wasn't all that great.

**Detroitej72** · May-11-09, 07:32 PM

Hopefully he will get the most votes in November and remain as council president. I think him and Bing can work together in Detroit's best interest to fix the city.
Now. if only we can loose Mon the Con, BRC, Warson, and Martha.

**Prodigal_Son** · May-11-09, 08:23 PM

My wife and I both signed. Only 415 to go.

MIRepublic · May-11-09, 10:18 PM

This doesn't exactly mean he's not also running for mayor. I won't believe that until he states it, himself. He could very well start both a council and mayoral race and drop out of one or the other. He could easily be covering both bases. Who knows?

**R8RBOB** · May-11-09, 10:35 PM

IMO, I think Cockrel should run for Council again. Had he ran for mayor, I would have not voted for him. I don't have anything against Cockrel but he got the stink of Monica Conyers all over him. She has been too much of a foil for him and at times it made him look weak. Because of the hate for Conyers he was denied on election day to finish Kilpatrick's term.

Once Conyers is voted out of CC and Cockrel serves another term, he could revisit the mayor's office but not now.

**kraig** · May-12-09, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by MIRepublic

This doesn't exactly mean he's not also running for mayor. I won't believe that until he states it, himself. He could very well start both a council and mayoral race and drop out of one or the other. He could easily be covering both bases. Who knows?

While he is allowed to pull petitions for both races, he's only allowed to file petitions for one of the offices. At this late date, if he's pulled petitions for City Council, that's probably the office he's going for. Unless, somehow he's not able to get enough signatures to file for Council and would run for mayor because he does have enough signatures, having pulled his petitions much earlier.

**kraig** · May-12-09, 09:57 AM

Cockrel returns to council, prepares to announce plans today

David Josar and Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Kenneth Cockrel Jr. returned to the City Council today to a round of applause, and plans to announce his plans for elected office at a 2 p.m. press conference.
Cockrel, who lost to Dave Bing in last week's general mayoral election, entered the council's chambers on the 13th floor shortly after 10 a.m.
"Welcome back, Mr. President," Councilwoman Joann Watson said.
Cockrel takes over as president until the end of the term Dec. 31. He is expected to announce his intentions at a 2 p.m. press conference at or near Wayne State University. Former Council President Monica Conyers was not in attendance.
"I'd be lying if I said I had mixed feelings," Cockrel said. "You got play the cards that are dealt and I play to win."
Cockrel has pulled petitions to run for both mayor and City Council, but he has not returned either. Today is the filing deadline, and Monday, his campaign manager pulled petitions for the council.
During the mayoral campaign, Cockrel said he would run for the four-year mayoral term even if he lost. However, after the election, which had him leading in the weeks before voters went to the polls, he appeared stunned at his defeat.
djosar@detnews.com

**firstandten** · May-12-09, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

Cockrel returns to council, prepares to announce plans today

David Josar and Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Kenneth Cockrel Jr. returned to the City Council today to a round of applause, and plans to announce his plans for elected office at a 2 p.m. press conference.
Cockrel, who lost to Dave Bing in last week's general mayoral election, entered the council's chambers on the 13th floor shortly after 10 a.m.
"Welcome back, Mr. President," Councilwoman Joann Watson said.
Cockrel takes over as president until the end of the term Dec. 31. He is expected to announce his intentions at a 2 p.m. press conference at or near Wayne State University. Former Council President Monica Conyers was not in attendance.
"I'd be lying if I said I had mixed feelings," Cockrel said. "You got play the cards that are dealt and I play to win."
Cockrel has pulled petitions to run for both mayor and City Council, but he has not returned either. Today is the filing deadline, and Monday, his campaign manager pulled petitions for the council.
During the mayoral campaign, Cockrel said he would run for the four-year mayoral term even if he lost. However, after the election, which had him leading in the weeks before voters went to the polls, he appeared stunned at his defeat.
djosar@detnews.com

And thats why he probably should not run for mayor. I felt he ran a better campaign, out debated Bing, and had a better grasp of the issues the city faces and yet he still lost. Reading the precincts voter count the lost was worst than at first thought. That means there are some intangelables that he has that doesn't relate to the city voters. One of which is he doesn't represent the change voters want. I believe the people perception of him is that we would see incremental change and the voters I believe want change on a massive scale.

I believe people perceive him as an effective city council person but as a mayor I don,'t think its his time nor do the people want the careful risk adverse style of leadership he brings to the table at this point in time.

**kraig** · May-13-09, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by firstandten

And thats why he probably should not run for mayor. I felt he ran a better campaign, out debated Bing, and had a better grasp of the issues the city faces and yet he still lost. Reading the precincts voter count the lost was worst than at first thought. That means there are some intangelables that he has that doesn't relate to the city voters. One of which is he doesn't represent the change voters want. I believe the people perception of him is that we would see incremental change and the voters I believe want change on a massive scale.

I believe people perceive him as an effective city council person but as a mayor I don,'t think its his time nor do the people want the careful risk adverse style of leadership he brings to the table at this point in time.

On City Council he has the benefit of being graded on a curve. It's not hard to look good when compared to Conyers, Reeves, Watson, Collins and Jones.

With the mayors race, while he outdebated Bing, he also had to stand on what he accomplished as mayor, which was nothing.

**Locke09** · May-13-09, 09:16 AM

Unfortunately, there is no credible person running against Bing now. So he can pretty much count on being around here through 2013. Already I have concerns about the team he is pulling together, and if what I'm hearing is true, I expect to be further dismayed when he announces additional appointments this afternoon.

It's not good when a politician is able to run pretty much unopposed.

MIRepublic · May-13-09, 09:46 PM

I agree with that last line no matter who it is. What I find a bit more than hypocritical, too, was Kenyatta's call for everyone to clear the field for Bing to give Bing a chance. Where was everyone calling for the field to clean to let Cockrel fill out the remaining few months of Kilpatricks term so they could have something solid to grade him on? Where was Kenyatta telling Bing to let the last few months run out, and simply run for the job in August? Cockrel gets half a year or less, but but Detroit is supposed to get out of the way of Bing to give him a full-term for nothing?

I don't much mind people giving their opinions on clearing the field, what I do mind are double standards and hypocrisy.

**Brittz** · May-13-09, 10:03 PM

Oh well, Ken may have a hard time making it on the council in the next election. I doubt he will retain his presidency. I would not be surprised if we have five to six new faces on the council.

**HazenPingree** · May-13-09, 10:03 PM

Barrow will run a pretty tight campaign, and I am fairly certain that he will turn out to be a "major" competitor.

Didn't he get 40% of the vote... against Coleman Young?

Sounds pretty serious to me.

**Brittz** · May-13-09, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by andylinn

Barrow will run a pretty tight campaign, and I am fairly certain that he will turn out to be a "major" competitor.

Didn't he get 40% of the vote... against Coleman Young?

Sounds pretty serious to me.

He did have a lot of followers. However, he's been out of the news for quite a while. I think too much time has passed for Barrow.

MIRepublic · May-13-09, 10:39 PM

Does Barrow have a website, yet? I remember hearing something about a website being released during his announcement, but I can't find it.

BTW, just because Barrow got 40% against an ailing Young doesn't mean anything, these days. These last few elections should go to show us how much the political landscape has changed, for both better and for worse in many instances. Barrow would have to pull in every Cockrel voter [[not likely) and draw voters out of the woodwork that didn't vote in either of the two recent elections even to have a shot, if you ask me.