(AP) -- Media consultant Scott L. Withers Jr. is launching a Democratic primary election challenge against veteran U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee. Withers told The Saginaw News for a story published Saturday that Kildee hasn't worked enough to create jobs in Michigan's 5th Congressional District. Kildee, of Flint, was first elected to Congress in 1976.
Kildee's campaign responded to the criticism with a list of projects and legislation the congressman has sponsored in recent years to create jobs, including $17 million in total to dredge the Saginaw River.
Kildee's campaign said he also worked last year to save the U.S. auto industry from collapse. Withers is a 37-year-old former television journalist from Birch Run. He says he wants to bring jobs back to mid-Michigan.
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