CHESS GAME

When Bloomfield Hills Republican and oil heiress Lena Epstein switched campaigns to run for the 11th congressional seat after Birmingham Rep. David Trott (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield, Rochester Hills, Troy, western Oakland County, parts of Wayne County) announced he was not running for a third term, fellow (male) Republicans got snarky. “Lena’s in over her head,” said one. And more than one male candidate raised the question of how a pregnant candidate would handle both a new political office in Washington D.C. along with a young child. Be that what it is (and we all know what it is), Epstein will have her hands full in the primary. A growing GOP field of announced candidates includes Plymouth Township supervisor Kurt Heise; state Rep. Klint Kesto (R-Commerce, West Bloomfield) who is beginning to pull in the bucks, although there are rumored to be reservations about him among top muckety-mucks and revered leaders in the Chaldean community; and perennial candidate former state Rep. Rocky Raczkowski of Troy, who some say runs as often as a leaky toilet and has already come under fire (Deadline Detroit) for overdue fines owed to the SOS office for past campaign filing transgressions. You can put your money on state Sen. Mike Kowall (White Lake), Senate Majority Whip, announcing and Michigan Rep. Laura Cox (Livonia) is still mulling over a run. Whoever slogs it out will go against the winner of Democratic primary field, which now includes state Rep. Tim Greimel (Auburn Hills), Haley Stevens, Dan Haberman, Fayrouz Saad and three-timer Anil Kumar.