The Associated Press

Fri, Mar 28, 2008 (2:52 p.m.)

A Michigan congresswoman whose son, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, is battling perjury charges may face a challenge of her own this summer _ in the Democratic primary.

Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a six-term lawmaker from Detroit, is drawing talk of a Democratic opponent, and perhaps more than one.

Former state Rep. Mary Waters of Detroit said Friday that she was collecting signatures to oppose Kilpatrick in the Aug. 5 primary. She said she was mounting the challenge because the elder Kilpatrick had not been accessible to her constituents.

Gary Brown, a former Detroit police officer whose lawsuit over his dismissal led to criminal charges against the mayor, said he was also considering a congressional campaign.

Kilpatrick leads the Congressional Black Caucus and has faced little opposition since she was first elected to Congress in 1996. Messages left with a Kilpatrick spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

The congresswoman has said her work on the House Appropriations Committee has delivered a half-billion dollars to the state and her district and noted in a Feb. 29 statement that voters "have repeatedly expressed their confidence in my abilities."

The mayor and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, have pleaded not guilty to charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office in a case tied to a lawsuit brought by Brown and another former officer. The former officers won a jury verdict last year after arguing that they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

The mayor had said he would challenge the verdict, but prosecutors allege that a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached after the officers' attorney showed Kilpatrick's lawyers references to text messages that had been left on Beatty's city-issued pager. The Detroit Free Press published excerpts of the messages in January, prompting an investigation that led to charges against Kilpatrick and Beatty.