In case you missed the news, Congressman Dale Kildee (5th District - D) announced last week that he will be retiring at the end of his term in 2012.  He has served in Congress for 35 years, after previously being elected to both the Michigan House and Senate from his Genesee County districts.

While the 5th District boundaries have just been redrawn, it still includes his Genesee County base.  Some of the new areas wrap around Saginaw Bay as far north as the Tawas area and, all things considered, should provide Republicans with a great new opportunity to elect a representative for this district.  We came close in 2010, with Republican John Kupiec, also of Genesee County, getting 44 percent of the vote to Kildee's 53 percent.