Chantel Watkins, Horace Sheffield, McClendon Starks II and Denzel McCampbell. A chair with State rep. Karen Whitsett’s name crossed out sits between Sheffield and Starks. Photo: Samuel Robinson
State Rep. Karen Whitsett wasn’t present at a candidate forum last week but it didn’t stop the candidates, moderators and members of the audience from calling out her support of conservatives.
Candidates running for city council and board of police commissioner spoke about what they would do if elected at the LaVonne M. Sheffield Bridge Center Library on Grand River last week for a community forum targeting voters on Detroit’s west side within District 7.
Write in candidate McClendon Starks II made his pitch to voters, outlining a community centered vision for the seat, while Board of Police Commissioner candidate Victoria Camille highlighted her commitment to civilian oversight. At-large candidate James Harris talked about the need for fresh leadership on the nine-member body, contrasting himself from his opponents (Mary Waters, Coleman Young II and Janee Ayers) saying he’s not just a well-known name.
District 7 candidate Denzel McCampbell, who faces Whitsett in the general election after finishing above her by a few dozen votes during Detroit’s Aug. 5 primary election, wasn’t the first to criticize the controversial state representative.
At the end of each question to the panelists, Chantel Watkins, a program coordinator at DABO, turned to the empty chair with Whitsett’s name crossed out on a piece of paper, sarcastically asking what the state representative thought.
Whitsett told Michigan Chronicle prior to the event that participating in forums during her campaign wasn’t necessary.
Before the event began, Rev. Horace Sheffield, the founder of DABO, told Michigan Chronicle he was disappointed by Whitsett’s vote for a Republican budget proposal, her refusal to show up to House session during last year’s chaotic lame duck sessions, and her unwillingness to participate in forums like the one he hosted Thursday night.
Sheffield said Whitsett’s behavior is a detriment to the community.
“My opponent voted for a budget that would take money from the city of Detroit, that would strip money from health care programs, that will cut funding for food assistance, that will cut funding for public safety, and also is not here, nowhere to be found,” McCampbell said of Whitsett’s recent vote for House Republicans’ budget proposal.
She was the lone Democrat to vote for the plan that called for millions less for Detroit.
Whitsett, who represents the 4th House District covering parts of Detroit and Dearborn in the state House, tells the Michigan Chronicle that she voted for the proposal with the knowledge that it wasn’t going to be approved by Democratic leadership in the state Senate or the governor.
“If I wasn’t doing my job right he wouldn’t try to scare people into vote for him,” Whitsett said. “Empty promises are easy to make when you have zero clue how to do the job.”
Whitsett has a history of breaking with her party on a number of issues, at one time during a slim 56-54 majority wielding the power to tank Democratic priorities in the House.
She’s voted against the Reproductive Health Act that amended several laws hindering abortion access. She disagreed with allowing state Medicaid funds to be used for abortions, and repealing a mandatory 24-hour waiting period for abortion patients from the time of consultation to the procedure.
Before that, she visited the then-President Trump White House in 2020 to participate in a meeting with recovered COVID-19 patients to champion an alternative treatment for the illness.
In the upcoming fiscal year budget, which legislative leaders say they have come to an agreement on, Whitsett submitted 41 individual requests to fund local projects, the highest number of requests by any House member.
Legislative spending documents reveal nine of the 41 requests are for organizations located in her legislative district.
Whitsett’s earmark requests made by Whitsett include, among others, $10 million for the Detroit Economic Growth Development for the Motor City Match program; $1.5 million for the Detroit Police Athletic League; $30 million to Renew Detroit, a home repair program for Detroit residents; $6 million for down payment assistance up to $25,000 for Detroit residents; $7.5 million to the Capital Area Housing Partnership, a housing consultant agency in Lansing; $1.2 million for landscaping and improvements in Detroit parks; $20 million for the city’s water and sewage department; and $5 million for THAW.
Whitsett says she doesn’t play politics, and her breaks with the Democratic Party have been backed by her majority Democratic district. She says she has fought across party lines navigating a divided House as a Democrat to ensure Detroit residents get their fair share.
“A bunch of people who have no idea what it takes to do the job,” Whitsett said when asked about the forum. “They have no clue what actually transpires, they only know the Democratic talking points.”
Responding to criticism from Sheffield, whose daughter, Mary Sheffield, is expected to become Detroit’s next mayor, Whitsett said the pastor’s church would not have made it through to serve his community during the pandemic, “If I hadn’t shared my blessings with them.”
“I have done so much for him and his daughter,” Whitsett said.
Sheffield responded to Whitsett’s comments during an interview with Michigan Chronicle Monday afternoon.
“Karen hasn’t done anything for me,” Sheffield said. “She gave me a few refrigerators to give my community. We were supported through grants from the United Way. For her to say I wouldn’t have made it through is as if she spared my life. She’s delusional.”
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