Julie Palwecki being sworn in to the State House.

LANSING — The 13th Congressional District Democratic Party organization is preparing to fill a vacancy following the untimely death of State Rep. Julie Plawecki. 

The first term representative, who passed away on Saturday, June 25, was running unopposed in the August primary for re-election to her 11th District State House seat. But her death has now activated a rarely used process to find her replacement.

And that process is causing some concern among the local community.

Because Plawecki was running unopposed, state law dictates that precinct delegates in the 11th State House District, which covers portions of Dearborn Heights, Westland, Livonia and all of Garden City and Inkster, must select three people who will determine her replacement.

Delegates will be meeting on July 7 at 6 p.m. at Westland City Hall to select the three people who will review candidate applications in order to select a qualified candidate.

The Wayne County Clerk’s office delivered absentee ballots to local clerks two weeks ago. But after the candidate is selected, the Wayne County Clerk’s office will print new absentee ballots and deliver them to local clerks for distribution to absentee voters.

Garden City posted a notice on its website telling voters that it had mailed out absentee ballots on Friday, but that they should not be filled in because of Plawecki’s death.

former Inkster Mayor Hilliard Hampton, Inkster Councilman Jewell Jones and Mohamed Ayoub, a senior planner for the city of Dearborn, have already expressing interest in the position.

Lisa Hicks-Clayton,a Dearborn Heights Council woman in her second term, has also submitted her name. Clayton told The AANews that she’s serving on the Michigan Municipal League and has garnered enough experience for the position.

“I think it’s great to have so many people interested in serving,” Clayton said.  “I’ve been a public servant for 30 years now. I have quite a bit of experience as well as an established record of service, not just in Dearborn Heights, but other communities in the 11th district. I intend to continue to do that.”

Rashid Baydoun, who finished second behind Plawecki in the 2014 election, has also submitted his name.

Baydoun, a teacher in the Dearborn Public Schools, told The AANews that he was disheartened by Plawecki’s passing and he would be honored to move her legacy forward.

“She served our community as a teacher and she served young people and families,” Baydoun said. “Her stance on education was beyond impressive. I was so happy to see what she did. She fought vigorously for our students.”

Baydoun said he understood that the Democratic Party has to follow state laws, but that he’s worried about the selection process to replace Plawecki. He believes because he came in second in the August 2014 primary, delegate leaders should consider him the front-runner. He added that community supporters have encouraged him to seek the position. 

“Our campaign in 2014 was a real strong one,” Baydoun said. “But we really don’t know what’s going to happen. This is uncharted territory. Typically there would be an emergency election, but according to Michigan law and the timing, the only way you can become the party nominee is to go through this process.”

Baydoun said that even after he lost to Plawecki two years ago, he continued to be an active member of the Democratic Party. He is a precinct delegate and serves on the executive board of the 13th Congressional District. He also frequently attends Saturday meetings at the UAW.

He also said it concerns him that the party is relying on delegates to select a nominee, when the district has been short on delegates for many years. 

“The cities of Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Westland and Livonia have all these open precinct delegates positions because no one ran for them,” Baydoun said. “That’s credited to really not doing our part as far as getting more precinct delegates involved. Getting people involved on a local level is important. If you want to seek change, then you need to get involved and there’s really no better place than being a precinct delegate.”

Baydoun is calling for the community to turn out at the meeting taking place at Westland’s City Hall on July 7. He added that residents must express their concerns if they feel there is a skewed selection process, in order to ensure that a qualified candidate becomes the nominee without bias. 

“I get the importance of having a local say in this, but I think the process definitely has to be reviewed,” Baydoun said. “I just think that we need to do our job in making sure that these individuals are Michigan Democratic card carrying members. If they aren’t committed to working for Michigan families and standing up for important principles, I think we would have a problem. Transparency is the basic tenet of good government. It is a responsibility of party leaders.”

In a brief statement, Jonathan Kinloch, chairman of the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party organization, said that he wanted to ensure the selection process isn’t politically driven. 

“I want to make sure that we are as sensitive as possible for the family’s concerns,” Kinloch said. “I want it to be done in a respectful fashion, with as little politics agitation as possible.”

Candidates interested in running for the position must submit a letter and resume to Kinloch at jkinloch@mi13thdistrict.com., or drop it off at the AFSCME local 600 offices at 600 West Lafayette in Detroit by 5 p.m. on July 5.