Patricia "Pan" Godchaux is a moderate

Moderate

In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....

 Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 who ran for the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 for the 9th federal congressional district in the state of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. She challenged seven-term incumbent Joe Knollenberg

Joe Knollenberg

Joseph "Joe" Knollenberg is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. From 1993 to 2009, he was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing ....

 in the Republican primary and hoped to get Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 support in the primary, as the Democrats' challenger, Nancy Skinner, didn't have to face a primary contest. She notes that the district leans Republican, and that unless citizens of the district want to re-elect a conservative

American conservatism

Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...

 Republican, their best chance to avoid doing so was by placing a moderate one on the ballot in November. Ultimately Gochaux failed in her attempt to unseat the seven-term incumbent, garnering 30% of the vote to Knollenberg's 70%, or 20,211 to 46,713 votes.

Godchaux previously served on the Birmingham, Michigan

Birmingham, Michigan

Birmingham is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan and an affluent suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103...

 school board and the Michigan House of Representatives. She is a member of Triangle Foundation's Board of Advisors.