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You can't enjoy jewelry if it's sitting in your safe deposit box. Sell or borrow on it for immediate cash. We deal in jewelry, watches, diamonds and coins. A Service to Private Ownersr Banks & Estates Contact Larry Allan 33700 Woodward Ave. • Between 14 Mile & Lincoln • Birmingham 248-644-8565 16 September 8 • 2011 being called the 9th, nearly four- fifths of it is Sandy Levin's old turf, much of it in Macomb County. It's hard to imagine Peters — or any- one — beating Levin here. Normally, the choices facing Gary Peters would be to a) retire grace- fully and look for another job, or b) gear up for a possibly suicidal primary battle. That is what former Democratic U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers did a decade ago, when she was thrown into a district with John Dingell, now the longest-serving congressman in American history. Not surprisingly, he ended her political career. Yet, this year, things are much more complicated than anyone expected. The legislature so radi- cally changed the dimensions of the 13th District — now represented by freshman Hansen Clarke — and the 14th, now represented by the octogenarian John Conyers, that the two men are almost certain to try to swap districts. The charismatic and multi-racial Hansen Clarke has already decided to run in the new 14th, one of the oddest districts in Michigan his- tory. It begins in the Grosse Pointes, curves in an arc across both north- ern and southern Detroit, and marches across Oakland County, taking in widely differing communi- ties including Pontiac, Southfield, Farmington Hills and heavily Jewish West Bloomfield and Oak Park. While the district does have a slight African-American majority, most of the residents are subur- banites who weren't likely to be happy about being represented by Conyers, who at 83, has always focused on inner-city concerns, and whose office doesn't have the best reputation for constituent services. Conyers hasn't said where he will run, and baffled people by show- ing up at a recent Southfield City Council meeting, though he refused to speak. But it seems likely he will now file in the 13th District, which includes some mostly blue-collar Wayne County suburbs, and a large portion of Detroit, much of which he represents now. True, he doesn't live there. Nor does Hansen Clarke live in the 14th. But not only could both men easily move — there is, in fact, no requirement that a member of Congress live in a district he or she represents. Yet there is still one more wild card. Gary Peters might yet decide the more the merrier — and jump into the 14th District race. That is, jump into the race for the Democratic nomination, which will be decided in the August primary. Many of the Oakland County voters are either constituents of his now — or are in areas he represented back when he was in the state sen- ate a decade ago. There's a possibility he could beat Hansen Clarke in a primary. While a majority of the voters are black, white suburbanites traditionally have higher turnout levels. Besides Clarke, two other black candidates from Southfield could get into the race — State Sen. Vincent Gregory and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. But Gary Peters has yet to decide. Elsewhere, few changes are expected in Michigan's congressio- nal delegation. All nine Republicans are likely to be re-elected, and redistricting strengthened most of them. Among the Democrats, John Dingell of Dearborn will be 86 next year, but is expected to be re- elected easily. Dale Kildee of Flint is voluntarily retiring, but is certain to be succeeded by a Democrat, possibly his nephew, Dan Kildee. Though we don't yet know who the survivors will be, the way in which the seats were redistricted mean that when a new Congress is seated in January 2013, Michigan is likely to send nine Republicans and five Democrats to Washington. What's saddest is simply this: Our population has been steadily declining relative to the rest of the country, and since 1980, we've lost five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives — equiva- lent to the entire delegation of Connecticut. What's more, most of the Democrats are very old. Levin, Conyers and Dingell are well into their 80s. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin is 77. Hansen Clarke and Gary Peters are the only congress- men of their party still in their 50s. Biology alone means that Michigan Democrats will be fac- ing a nearly wholesale leader- ship change over the next decade, whether they, or the voters, like it or not. I I Jack Lessenberry is senior political analyst for Michigan Radio, a former executive national editor of the Detroit News and a member of Temple Emanu- El in Oak Park.