A 30-year veteran of Michigan politics, Carolyn
Cheeks Kilpatrick won election to the U.S. House of
Representatives in 1996. Kilpatrick picked up a seat on the
prestigious Appropriations Committee in only her second
term, where she remained throughout her tenure, using
the position to direct federal resources towards her Detroit
district. An active member of the Congressional Black
Caucus, Kilpatrick was unanimously elected its chair for the
110th Congress (2007–2009).
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick was born Carolyn Jean
Cheeks on June 25, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, to
Marvell Jr. and Willa Mae (Henry) Cheeks. Raised in
the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Kilpatrick
later joined the Shrine of the Black Madonna of the
Pan African Orthodox Christian Church, a politically
active and powerful congregation in Detroit.1 She
graduated from the High School of Commerce in
Detroit as president of her class and attended Ferris State
University. She earned a BS in education from Western
Michigan University in 1972 and an MS in education
from the University of Michigan. In 1968 she married
Bernard Kilpatrick. They raised two children: Ayanna
and Kwame.2
Early in her career, Kilpatrick worked as a Detroit
public school teacher. A protégé of longtime Detroit mayor
Coleman A. Young, she left teaching in 1978 to pursue a
political career and won election to nine consecutive terms
in the Michigan house of representatives. Serving 18 years
in the state house, Kilpatrick became the first African-
American woman member of its appropriations committee.
She chaired the corrections budget and the transportation
budget subcommittees during 14 years on the committee.
Kilpatrick was also a house Democratic whip and earned a
reputation as a consensus-builder.3
In 1996 Kilpatrick declared her candidacy for a Detroit-area
seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Among
a large field of competitors in the Democratic primary,
including three-term incumbent Barbara-Rose Collins,
Kilpatrick prevailed with a 19-point margin. In the general
election, the overwhelmingly Democratic district elected
Kilpatrick with 88 percent of the vote. In her subsequent six
re-elections, she won by similarly large margins.4
When Kilpatrick took her seat in the 105th Congress
(1997–1999), she received assignments on three
committees: Banking and Financial Services (later named
Financial Services); House Oversight (later renamed House Administration); and the Joint Committee on the Library of
Congress. In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), Kilpatrick
obtained a seat on the House Appropriations Committee,
which required her to give up all other committee
assignments. She was the sole Michigan Democrat to
serve on the committee during her tenure there, and when
Republican Joseph Knollenberg failed to win re-election
in 2010, she was the only Michigan Representative on the
Appropriations Committee. Kilpatrick also was the first
African-American Member of Congress to serve on the Air
Force Academy Board of Visitors.5
Much of Kilpatrick’s legislative work centered on
bringing federally funded projects to Michigan. She
garnered funding for pre-college engineering instruction,
children’s television programming, and enhanced
rehabilitation services at the Detroit Medical Center.6 She
also initiated a transportation bill that included $24 million
for an intermodal freight terminal that linked rail, marine,
and road delivery lines.7 And she spearheaded $100 million
in the 2005 transportation bill for a commuter rail system
that covered more than 50 miles in southeastern Michigan.
Kilpatrick’s efforts brought a National Aeronautics
and Space Administration engineering and aeronautics
program for students ranging from kindergarten through
twelfth grade to Wayne State University. Kilpatrick’s
district included a significant portion of Detroit, and she
worked to support American automakers. She split from
her Democratic colleagues on the issue of fuel economy
standards. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards,
she said, “is a 1970s solution to our energy challenges that
is as threadbare as your old bell bottom jeans.”8 During
the 2008 financial crisis, she backed legislation to provide
General Motors and Chrysler with federal aid.9
Kilpatrick was a prominent advocate for affordable
health care for low- and middle-income families and for
raising the minimum wage. She voted for the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 and was a
“strong supporter of the single payer health care plan” and “a
strong public option.”10 Kilpatrick also proposed legislation
to provide a $1,000 per month tax credit for medical
doctors who practice in underserved areas.11 Kilpatrick
sought to encourage corporate America and the federal
government to invest more money into minority- and
women-owned media outlets and advertising agencies. From
her seat on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the
Appropriations Committee, Kilpatrick brought attention to health and economic woes in sub-Saharan Africa. In
the 106th Congress, she offered an amendment to boost
disaster assistance funding for flood relief in Mozambique
by $60 million; two subsequent appropriations bills
included $25 million and $135 million in International
Disaster Assistance for Mozambique and the surrounding
region. Kilpatrick also favored funding for HIV/AIDS
programs, education, and military assistance in America and
in several African countries.12
In 2008 Kilpatrick faced her first serious primary
challenge. Mary Waters and Martha Scott, both members of
the Michigan house of representatives, ran against her citing
the need for new leadership in the district. It was the closest
of all of Kilpatrick’s primary battles, but with 39 percent
of the vote she secured a plurality over her opponents, and
handily won the general election.13 On the heels of the
competitive campaign for the 110th Congress (2007–2009),
Kilpatrick again faced a strong challenge in 2010. This time,
however, she lost in the Democratic primary. Hansen Clarke,
a Detroit native and member of the Michigan state senate,
defeated Kilpatrick 47 percent to 41 percent, and won the
general election for the 112th Congress (2011–2013).14
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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