Stupak Mulls Run For Governor

Bart Stupak says he's seriously considering running for governor in Michigan in 2010.

Bart Stupak says he’s seriously considering running
for governor
in Michigan in 2010.

Stupak
said Tuesday that he will be traveling across his state in the coming weeks to
gauge support for a bid, but added that he wants to avoid a bloody primary.

"I
may very well be the strongest candidate," he said, adding that there are
three or four qualified candidates looking at running. "I would hope party
leaders would get behind a candidate," he said. "We can’t have a
primary battle. A divisive primary would not be good."

It would be hard to imagine there wouldn’t
be a primary battle for the Democratic nomination. Since Lieutenant Governor
John Cherry announced last week that he would not
run for the Democratic slot
the race has been left wide open. Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith of Salem Township and State Senate
Hansen Clarke of Detroit have already announced they are running. Meanwhile
several others may jump into the race. House Speaker Andy Dillon has been thought as a strong
contender for the seat. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and former state Treasurer Bob Bowman are also considering running. And Detroit
businesswoman Denise
Ilitch
met with White House officials on Monday about potentially running.

Stupak though, is being begged by the Democratic leadership not to leave his seat. He’s convinced, at least, that only he can win it for the Dems.

Stupak said that he’s
already gotten a call from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman
Chris Van Hollen (Md.) urging him to run for re-election.

"It’s a gone
district, if I’m not in there," Stupak said. President Barack Obama won
the district by a few hundred votes, Stupak said, despite pulling out all of
the stops.

Of course Stupak, the Congressman who has angered most of
the Democratic party with his amendment to ban coverage of abortion services in
the healthcare reform bill, thinks that his reputation would be an asset
in the Michigan gubernatorial race.

"I may very well be the strongest candidate because, as
you know, I don’t do everything the party tells me to," he told a clutch of
reporters Tuesday evening outside a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. "So
in a way, that works well in a general."

Still
one added benefit is that if Stupak runs it would likely mean he would be
finished as a congressman. As the saying goes, with friends like these…