imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives to :Category:21st-century United States representatives per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

2025-11-06T06:27:31Z

Moving Category:21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives to Category:21st-century United States representatives per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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{{Short description|American politician (1945–2025)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Carolyn Kilpatrick
|image = Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, official 109th Congress photo.jpg
|caption = Official portrait, {{circa|2005}}
|state = [[Michigan]]
|term_start = January 3, 1997
|term_end = January 3, 2011
|predecessor = [[Barbara-Rose Collins]]
|successor = [[Hansen Clarke]]
|constituency = {{ushr|MI|15|C}} (1997–2003) {{ushr|MI|13|C}} (2003–2011)
|office1 = Member of the [[Michigan House of Representatives]]
|term_start1 = January 1, 1979
|term_end1 = January 1, 1997
|predecessor1 = [[Jackie Vaughn III]]
|successor1 = [[Kwame Kilpatrick]]
|constituency1 = [[Michigan's 18th House of Representatives district|18th district]] (1979–1982) [[Michigan's 8th House of Representatives district|8th district]] (1983–1992) [[Michigan's 9th House of Representatives district|9th district]] (1993–1996)
|birth_name = Carolyn Jean Cheeks
|birth_date = {{birth date|1945|6|25}}
|birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2025|10|7|1945|6|25}}
|death_place = [[Fayetteville, Georgia]], U.S.
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse = {{marriage|Bernard Kilpatrick|1968|1981|end=div}}
|children = 2, including [[Kwame Kilpatrick|Kwame]]
|education = [[Ferris State University]] [[Western Michigan University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]) [[University of Michigan]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
}}
'''Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick''' (June 25, 1945 – October 7, 2025) was an American politician who was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from 1997 to 2011, first for {{ushr|Michigan|15}} and then for {{ushr|Michigan|13}}. She was a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. In August 2010 she lost the Democratic primary election to [[Hansen Clarke]], who replaced her in January 2011 after winning the [[2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan#District 13|2010 general election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/kilpatrick-loses-democratic-primary/|title=Kilpatrick Loses Democratic Primary|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny|date=August 4, 2010|website=The Caucus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7060634n|title=Meet Freshmen Reps.-Elect Allen West & Hansen Clarke - CBS News Video|website=[[CBS News]] }}</ref><ref name=results13>{{cite web|url=http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/10GEN/06013000.html|title=13th District Representative in Congress 2 Year Term (1) Position Files In WAYNE County|date=March 2, 2011|access-date=January 18, 2014|publisher=[[Michigan Department of State]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129155059/http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/10GEN/06013000.html|archive-date=January 29, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kilpatrick was also the mother of former Detroit Mayor [[Kwame Kilpatrick]].

==Early life, education and career==
Born Carolyn Jean Cheeks in Detroit on June 25, 1945, she graduated from Detroit High School of Commerce.<ref name = Nossiter>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/us/politics/carolyn-cheeks-kilpatrick-dead.html|title = Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, 80, Dies; In Congress, a Lifeline for Detroit|last = Nossiter|first = Adam|date = October 10, 2025|accessdate = October 10, 2025|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref> She then attended [[Ferris State University]] in [[Big Rapids, Michigan|Big Rapids]] from 1968 to 1970 and earned a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] from [[Western Michigan University]] ([[Kalamazoo, Michigan|Kalamazoo]]) in 1972. She earned a [[Master of Science|M.S.]] from the [[University of Michigan]] in 1977.<ref name = Nossiter/> She worked as a high school teacher and was later a member of the [[Michigan House of Representatives]] from 1979 to 1996.<ref name = Nossiter/>

==U.S. House of Representatives==

===Committee assignments===
*[[United States House Committee on Appropriations|Committee on Appropriations]]
**[[United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies|Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies]]

===Caucus and other membership===
*Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group
*[[Congressional Black Caucus]]
*[[Congressional Progressive Caucus]]

She was one of the 31 House Democrats who voted not to count the 20 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral vote]]s from [[Ohio]] in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 7: On Agreeing to the Objection|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|access-date=December 24, 2012|date=January 6, 2005}}</ref> Republican President George Bush won the state by 118,457 votes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/politics/ohio-recount-gives-a-smaller-margin-to-bush.html|title = Ohio Recount Gives a Smaller Margin to Bush|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 29 December 2004|last1 = Salvato|first1 = Albert}}</ref>

The [[Congressional Black Caucus]] unanimously chose Kilpatrick as its chairwoman for the [[110th United States Congress|110th Congress]] (2007-09).<ref name = Nossiter/>

On September 29, 2008, she voted against the [[Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008]].
[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml]

==Political campaigns==
In 1996, Kilpatrick challenged three-term incumbent [[Barbara-Rose Collins]] in the 1996 Democratic primary for what was then the 15th District. She defeated Collins by a shocking margin, taking 51.6 percent of the vote to Collins' 30.6 percent. This was [[tantamount to election]] in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. She was reelected six times, never dropping below 80 percent of the vote. Her district was renumbered as the 13th District after the 2000 Census. She faced no major-party opposition in 2004 and was completely unopposed in 2006.

===2008===
{{See also|2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan#District 13}}
Her first serious opposition came during the 2008 primary—the real contest in this district—when she was challenged by both former [[Michigan House of Representatives|State Representative]] [[Mary D. Waters]] and [[Michigan Senate|State Senator]] [[Martha G. Scott|Martha Scott]] in the Democratic primary. Kilpatrick's campaign was plagued by the controversy surrounding her son and his involvement in a text messaging sex scandal. On the August 5 primary election, Kilpatrick won with 39.1 percent of the vote, compared to Waters' 36 percent and Scott's 24 percent.

===2010===
{{See also|2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan#District 13}}
In 2010, she was again challenged in the Democratic primary. Unlike in 2008, her opposition coalesced around State Senator [[Hansen Clarke]], who defeated her in the August 3 primary. “This is the final curtain: the ending of the Kilpatrick dynasty,” said Detroit political consultant Eric Foster of Foster, McCollum, White and Assoc.
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.freep.com/article/20100803/NEWS15/100803079/1435/Clarke-upsets-Cheeks-Kilpatrick |title=Clarke upsets Cheeks Kilpatrick in key race; end of a political dynasty? |access-date=2010-08-04 |archive-date=2014-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203134622/http://www.freep.com/article/20100803/NEWS15/100803079/1435/Clarke-upsets-Cheeks-Kilpatrick |url-status=dead }}</ref> NPR and CBS News both noted that throughout her re-election campaign, she was dogged by questions about her son, [[Kwame Kilpatrick]], who is in prison on numerous corruption charges.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128807149 Kwame Kilpatrick's Woes Tinge Mother's Campaign : NPR]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20012628-503544.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805024546/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20012628-503544.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 5, 2010|title=Michigan Election Results Mean End of Kilpatrick Era – Political Hotsheet – CBS News|website=[[CBS News]] }}</ref> ''Michigan Live'' reported that her election defeat could in part be attributed to the Kwame Kilpatrick scandals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2010/08/kwame_kilpatricks_legal_troubles_play_into.html|title=Kwame Kilpatrick's legal troubles play into Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick's defeat|first=Sheena Harrison |last=MLive.com|date=August 4, 2010|website=mlive}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Kilpatrick was a member of the Detroit Substance Abuse Advisory Council, and was a member of [[Delta Sigma Theta]] sorority.

Kilpatrick was married to Bernard Nathaniel Kilpatrick from 1968 until divorcing in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/16302|title = KILPATRICK, Carolyn Cheeks|website = [[United States House of Representatives]]|accessdate = October 10, 2025}}</ref> The couple had two children, daughter Ayanna and son [[Kwame Kilpatrick]], a former Mayor of Detroit. She had six grandsons including two sets of twins and two granddaughters. Both her former husband and son were on trial, under an 89-page felony indictment. On March 11, 2013, her son was found guilty on 24 of 30 federal charges and her former spouse was found guilty on 1 of 4 federal charges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/10/Kwame-Kilpatrick-four-others-arraigned/94391294706141/|title=Kwame Kilpatrick, four others arraigned - UPI.com|website=UPI}}</ref>

Kilpatrick lived in [[Metro Atlanta]] in her later years, and died from [[Alzheimer's disease]] at her daughter's home in [[Fayetteville, Georgia]], on October 7, 2025, at the age of 80.<ref name = Nossiter/><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/07/carolyn-cheeks-kilpatrick-dies-at-80/86571470007/|title = Former Detroit U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick dies at 80|last = Spangler|first = Todd|date = October 7, 2025|accessdate = October 8, 2025|work = [[Detroit Free Press]]}}</ref>

==Electoral history==
{{Election box begin no change
| title = Michigan's 13th congressional district general election, 2008
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick ([[incumbent|inc.]])
|votes = 167,481
|percentage = 74.13
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (United States)
|candidate = Edward J. Gubics
|votes = 43,098
|percentage = 19.08
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Green Party (United States)
|candidate = George L. Corsetti
|votes = 9,579
|percentage = 4.24
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Libertarian Party (United States)
|candidate = [[Gregory Creswell]]
|votes = 5,764
|percentage = 2.55
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 225,922
|percentage = 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=Michigan's 13th district Democratic primary, August 3, 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/10PRI/06013000.html|title=13th District Representative in Congress 2 Year Term (1) Position Files In WAYNE County|date=October 6, 2010|access-date=January 18, 2014|publisher=[[Michigan Department of State]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302201403/http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/10PRI/06013000.html|archive-date=March 2, 2012}}</ref>}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = [[Hansen Clarke]]
|votes = 22,573
|percentage = 47.32
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (incumbent)
|votes = 19,507
|percentage = 40.89
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Glenn Plummer
|votes = 2,038
|percentage = 4.27
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = John Broad
|votes = 1,872
|percentage = 3.92
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Vincent Brown
|votes = 893
|percentage = 1.87
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate = Stephen Hume
|votes = 820
|percentage = 1.72
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 47,703
|percentage = 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Michigan|Biography|Politics|United States}}
* [[List of African-American United States representatives]]
* [[Women in the United States House of Representatives]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name| 2131983}}
* {{CongLinks | congbio=k000180 | votesmart= | fec=H6MI15127 | congress= }}
* [http://www.michigandems.com/ Michigan Democratic Party]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060506190948/http://www.michiganliberal.com/tag.do?tag=CD13 13th Congressional District] at ''Michigan Liberal''
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/kilguss-kim.html#RWS02J0MO The Political Graveyard]
* {{C-SPAN|45456}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Barbara-Rose Collins]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Michigan|U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Michigan's 15th congressional district]]|years=1997–2003}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Dingell]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Lynn N. Rivers|Lynn Rivers]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Michigan|U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Michigan's 13th congressional district]]|years=2003–2011}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hansen Clarke]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Mel Watt]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Congressional Black Caucus]]|years=2007–2009}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Barbara Lee]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{CBC Chairs}}
{{U.S. Michigan Representatives}}
{{USCongRep-start |congresses=105th–111th [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[United States congressional delegations from Michigan|Michigan]]}}
{{USCongRep/MI/105}}
{{USCongRep/MI/106}}
{{USCongRep/MI/107}}
{{USCongRep/MI/108}}
{{USCongRep/MI/109}}
{{USCongRep/MI/110}}
{{USCongRep/MI/111}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilpatrick, Carolyn Cheeks}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Methodists]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:African-American United States representatives]]
[[Category:African-American Methodists]]
[[Category:African-American state legislators in Michigan]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan]]
[[Category:Female United States representatives]]
[[Category:Ferris State University alumni]]
[[Category:Methodists from Michigan]]
[[Category:People of the African Methodist Episcopal church]]
[[Category:Politicians from Detroit]]
[[Category:University of Michigan alumni]]
[[Category:Western Michigan University alumni]]
[[Category:Women state legislators in Michigan]]

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives to :Category:21st-century United States representatives per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy