Mayor, council races lead Detroit primary election

WKAR Public Media

Published August 3, 2009 at 6:10 AM EDT

By AP

DETROIT – Detroit's mayoral and city council candidates are making their final campaign pushes as Tuesday's primary election nears.

Incumbent Mayor Dave Bing faces a field of six competitors. The 65-year-old Bing is finishing out the term of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned in September as part of plea deals in two criminal cases.

Bing faces five other candidates on Tuesday, but only Tom Barrow has real name recognition with voters. Barrow lost to then-Mayor Coleman A. Young in 1985 and 1989.

The two mayoral candidates who draw the most votes move on to the Nov. 3 general election, with the winner taking a full four-year term in office.

Tuesday's primary also features 168 candidates for nine City Council seats - though only 167 are valid. The top 18 move on to the general election.

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