Kathleen Gray and Lori Higgins | Detroit Free Press

Wochit

So who is Betty Jean Alexander, the Detroit political unknown who unseated a veteran and popular state lawmaker in Tuesday’s election?

She’s a struggling Detroiter, a “candidate of last resort,” and the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, said the man who recruited her to run in a bid to send a message to Sen. David Knezek, a Dearborn Heights Democrat.

“It was clearly a Hail Mary,” said LaMar Lemmons, who himself lost a bid for a state Senate seat in another district. “And sometimes, just sometimes, when you throw a Hail Mary, your receiver catches it.”

Alexander, 53, won the 5th Senate District race with 54.5 percent of the vote. Knezek garnered 45.5 percent of the vote.

It was a stunning blow for the former U.S. Marine sharpshooter. He was part of the leadership team in the Senate's Democratic caucus and considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.

Kathleen Galligan, Detroit Free Press

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But the higher voter turnout in this year's election — 34,729 people cast ballots this year compared with 26,310 in 2014 when Knezek won a six-candidate primary race — led to his downfall against a candidate who signed a waiver saying she wouldn't raise or spend more than $1,000 on her race.

Knezek saw the writing on the wall, but wasn't quite ready to concede the race Wednesday, especially since Wayne County's election results were so late and seemingly screwed up.

"The results have come in from yesterday’s election & things do not look promising for the #KeepItKnezek team," he said on Twitter. "As a campaign, we have made the decision to wait until the Board of Canvassers certifies the election before making any official declarations."

Alexander referred all questions to Lemmons, whom she described as her campaign manager and spokesman in an email Wednesday afternoon.

Lemmons currently is a member of the Detroit Board of Education, though he opted not to run for re-election in November and instead ran for the 2nd Senate District seat.

Lemmons said the newly elected senator was shocked to learn she’d won the race.

“The media has already besieged her home. She’s not used to this. She’s not used to people going back and looking at her credit score.”

In 2016, Alexander ran for the Detroit Board of Education. At the time, the Free Press —as part of a partnership with several other media outlets — noted that Alexander had filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Court records at the time also showed she had been evicted and sued for failing to pay debts in Detroit. Records also showed she pleaded no contest to a fraudulent check charge in New Mexico.

Lemmons described her as “every citizen.”

“She has a regular job as a clerk. She struggles to pay her bills. She’s a single mother with two children trying to make it in this Detroit economy, where the auto insurance rates are astronomical. She’s the quintessential reflection of the … average Detroit black woman.” He said Alexander is the half-sister of his wife, Georgia Lemmons.

He said he recruited a Knezek opponent because he was displeased with Knezek’s “lackadaisical response to (Mayor Mike) Duggan’s interference with the Detroit public schools district.” Lemmons said he also is upset that Knezek didn’t support the positions taken by the Detroit school board in 2016 when the Legislature was debating bills —which eventually passed — addressing the debt that had crushed the district for years. Knezek was a key figure in the negotiations over the legislation.

The loss wasn't the only surprise in Tuesday's election. State Rep. Patrick Green, a Warren Democrat, was expected to be a shoo-in for re-election, but Lori Stone, a Warren Democrat and teacher, upended the incumbent by a 4,585 to 4,110 margin. She only raised $2,650 for the race, compared with Green, who raised more than $48,000 this election cycle and ended the campaign with $21,654 in his campaign bank. It was a rematch of the 2016 race, when Green got 50 percent of the vote to 30 percent for Stone with two other Democrats splitting the remainder.

Tuesday's election also ended the legislative careers of several veteran politicians, who lost to other state representatives looking to move up to the state Senate. Among the winners of Senate races were state Rep. Mike McCready, R-Birmingham, over Rep. Jim Tedder, R-Clarkston; state Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, over state Reps. Bettie Cook Scott and Alberta Tinsley Talabi, both Detroit Democrats; state Rep. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, over Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak, D-Dearborn; state Rep. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, over Rep. Robert Kosowski, D-Westland, and state Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township over former state Rep. Ken Goike, R-Ray Township.

While some districts didn't have primary races, the high turnout revealed the possibility of a seat being flipped from Republican to Democrat. In two Oakland County Senate races, the Democrats won more votes over GOP candidates in Republican districts, including Mallory McMorrow, a Royal Oak Democrat, who got 35,222 votes in an uncontested primary, while her Republican opponent, state Sen. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, got just 27,210 votes.

In state House races, state Rep. Kathy Crawford, R-Novi, survived a scare from Republican Chase Turner, a Northville Republican, who was leading much of the night but who ended up losing by 714 votes. In the 40th state House District, David Wolkinson, an attorney and Republican Party activist, bested a field of six candidates, but will face a strong challenge from Birmingham Democrat Mari Manoogian, who won a tight race against Nicole Bedi. The two Democratic candidates, however, totaled 16,733 votes while the six Republicans, combined, won just 11,687 votes.