Common wisdom seems to be that Bart Stupak was the only electable Dem in his district

However, the state house reps offer a glimmer of hope:

The State House districts covered in Bart's National Congressional District are:

110 - Mike Lahti - D
109 - Steve Lindsey - D
108 - Judy Nerat - D
107 - Gary McDowell - D
106 - Andy Newman - D
105 - Kevin Elsenhelmer (sp?) - R
104 - Wayne Schmidt - D
and 103 - Joe Sheltown - D

Connie Saltonstall, the only declared Dem in the race so far, is from the 105th, by the way and has a base there.

So before we rend our clothes and put on black cloth, maybe it's too early to give up on the MI 01 Congressional district just yet?

I'm too stupid to quit. that's why I get things done.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/stupaks-out.html

snip//


Connie Saltonstall is already in the race. She's not backed by anyone important, only the National Organization For Women, NARAL and Planned Parenthood and there's no reason why the Democratic party should pay any attention to them. (It's not like they're the Catholic Bishops or the NRA or anything ...) She is just a Michigan Democrat who was so offended by the fact that Stupak held health care reform hostage in order to stage yet another assault on women's constitutional rights that she decided to run against him, one of the most difficult tasks any politician can undertake and one that almost always earns the enmity of the local and national party. She did it anyway, and while they were happy to have her put some pressure on Stupak at the right moment they would be even more happy for her to be a good little girl and back out now, I'm sure.

I sincerely hope she stays in. I have no way of knowing if the women's groups will stay on board, but if the party picks another anti-choice candidate they probably will. Saltonstall has raised almost 100k on Act Blue in the past month. Blue America has been a strong backer from the day she announced. We'll stay on board as long as she does.

and I'm sure she's never been "a good little girl" in her entire life!

Go Connie, indeed!

(and thanks for the link!)

Impressive family with impressive backgrounds in public service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltonstall_family

She's impressive in her own right (and wickedly funny, by the way, but always professional in her public presentation).

It depends on a lot of factors, including who the republicans nominate, how much money she can raise, can she keep up the energy level.

I truly hope she can!

"With his retirement announcement, five Democratic state legislators – including Senate Democratic Leader Mike Prusi – say they may run for Stupak's seat. Kevin Elsenheimer, the state House GOP leader, also is showing interest."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/09/bart-stupak-retiring-tea-_n_531460.html

Republican Eisenheimer limited Connie to just under 37% of the vote when the two faced off in the 2008 election for the 105th state house seat.

looks like a tough seat to hold.

The only pro-choice Dem from this area that I know of is retiring state senator Prusi who is also very pro-gun.

http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/6708/mi01-bart-stupak-may-retire

Saw the above at Daily Kos and i thought it gave an accurate bio of possible candidates.