Outsiders win open US House primaries in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republican voters backed conservative outsiders to advance in Michigan's open U.S. House primaries, delivering a surprise victory in the north and validating a wealthy businessman's second try for Congress.

Little-known retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jack Bergman won the GOP contest over two politically experienced candidates in northern Michigan. He faces ex-state Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson in a competitive race in November.

In the Thumb, victorious retired vocational school company CEO Paul Mitchell, a Republican, will be favored in the fall general election over former Democratic state Rep. Frank Accavitti Jr.

A look at the election:

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THUMB SEAT

Republican Rep. Candice Miller's decision to step aside after seven terms sparked a five-way Republican primary in the 10th Congressional District.

Mitchell, a 59-year-old from Dryden, spent $2.9 million of his fortune on the race after unsuccessfully running for a different congressional seat two years ago. He led the opposition against a 2015 state constitutional amendment that would have increased sales taxes to boost transportation and other spending.

Mitchell defeated three political veterans — state Sen. Phil Pavlov, former state Sen. Alan Sanborn and state Rep. Tony Forlini — and military veteran David VanAssche.

"I'm incredibly humbled by tonight's win," Mitchell said. "As a conservative outsider and businessman, we worked hard over the last 13 months to share our message focusing on lower taxes, national security and reforming government. ... I ran because I believed I could make a difference, and that's exactly what I intend to do."

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NORTHERN MICHIGAN

Outside of Bergman, the candidates vying to succeed outgoing third-term GOP Rep. Dan Benishek were familiar to voters in the toss-up 1st Congressional District that includes the entire Upper Peninsula and the northern section of the Lower Peninsula.

Johnson, the ex-chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, easily defeated former Kalkaska County Sheriff Jerry Cannon.

In the Republican race, Bergman of Watersmeet beat state Sen. Tom Casperson and former state Sen. Jason Allen of Traverse City, who narrowly lost the 2010 primary to Benishek.

"I'm a uniter," said Bergman, who loaned his campaign $270,000. "Marines first and foremost take care of one another and then they take care of the people they're supposed to protect. ... We've become too divisive in this country."

Gordon Crimmins, 78, a retiree from Traverse City, said he voted for Bergman because of his military record.

"Anybody that's military has to be better than anybody else. The other two are career politicians. He's focused. The other guys are all over the map."

Crimmins said he was turned off by sniping between the Allen and Casperson campaigns, who had sparred over their legislative records.

"One tells you one thing, one tells you the other. There's maybe a grain of truth and the rest isn't. They really know how to distort the truth of things," he said.

The 1st District is seen as the best chance for Democrats to dent the GOP's 9-5 edge in the House.

Johnson said voters are "tired" of trade deals that lead to job outsourcing and want Social Security protected from privatization.

"There's a distrust in Washington," he said. "They're seeing that the values of our Congress and our corporate leaders have changed, and our values are still the same, thankfully — working hard and playing by the rules and never giving up."

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GILBERT OUT

Former "Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert, the lone Democrat to challenge freshman Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in the GOP-leaning 8th Congressional District, left the race while citing health reasons. Her name remained on the ballot, though.

State election officials next will weigh Democrats' plan to replace Gilbert with Macomb County assistant prosecuting attorney Suzanna Shkreli. Michigan law allows for such withdrawals only when a candidate moves out of the state or "has become physically unfit." The district stretches from Lansing to Oakland County in Detroit's northern suburbs.

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MICHIGAN HOUSE

Forty-two of the 110 seats in the Michigan House are open because of term limits, a departure and the recent death of a lawmaker. Because of gerrymandered districts, many primary voters essentially elected their next representative Tuesday. House Republicans, who took control in 2011, currently have a 63-45 edge. No incumbents lost Tuesday, but some outcomes were seen to better or worsen the parties' chances to retain or take back the House majority.

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THE DEAN CONTINUES

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the longest-serving member of the U.S. House, defeated Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey in the heavily Democratic 13th District. The 87-year-old Conyers has been in Congress since 1965.

Conyers' great-nephew Ian won a crowded special Democratic primary and is positioned in November to fill the vacancy of ex-state Sen. Virgil Smith, who resigned after beginning a 10-month jail sentence stemming from a shooting incident involving his ex-wife.

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Associated Press writers John Flesher in Traverse City and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.

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