As they engaged in a hot GOP primary that ended in a near dead heat, winner Dr. Dan Benishek of Crystal Falls, and Senator Jason Allan of Alanson, who decided not to seek a recount of his 15-vote loss, dominated media coverage.

My focus today is on the two others who will be on the November 2 ballot and were busy on the trail last week in the scramble to replace retiring 1st District Representative Bart Stupak (D-Menominee):

• State Representative Gary McDowell of Rudyard, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, had events on both sides of the Mackinac Bridge, including Friday at the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba.

There, Benishek, via press release while attending the fair, awarded McDowell three mock "Blue Ribbons of our own," including "Biggest Bull." Noting that McDowell calls himself a conservative Democrat, Benishek said, "the notion that he is a conservative anything is bull."

McDowell countered that he has a reputation in Lansing as a "conservative builder (of relations with Republicans) willing to reach across the aisle."

McDowell, contending that Benishek has spent $450,000 for a TV ad campaign that so far, in large part, has been critical of McDowell, said he has been able to win three House terms "without a negative campaign" and that is his intention in this campaign. That's a welcome statement in a year of barbs across the ballot.

(As of this writing, there was no confirmation of the $450,000 figure from Benishek.)

Among the several candidates I have talked to in northern congressional districts, I have found McDowell the most knowledgeable about specifics of Great Lakes issues, including oil and gas drilling, invasive species, and water diversion.

On Friday, echoing a concern raised by Stupak, McDowell said Michigan needs to be concerned about better regulation of "one bottle a time" diversion from bottling operations involving massive tapping of groundwater that is treated as a product rather than a public trust.

• Keep an eye on Independent candidate Glenn Wilson, a Rose City businessman who is playing to national voter frustration with the political process and who, as Benishek, has support of Tea Party activists.

It appears that Wilson, who Friday embarked on a bus tour that will end up later this week at the U.P. Fair, will have a well-funded campaign.

"He's not going into this to be a spoiler," Wilson adviser Rick Carlson of the Tea Party-related Northern Michigan Liberty Alliance said Friday when I asked about the buzz that Democrats have put up, or at least encouraged, Wilson to run to siphon off conservative votes from Benishek. He vowed there has been no maneuvering with Democrats on this.

As for a report in the Petoskey News-Review that Wilson said he would spend $2 million on the campaign, Carlson said it would take “$2 million to $4 million to run a viable campaign.”

Last week, Wilson, in vowing to challenge the two-party system, said: “I’m looking forward to sending the message to northern Michigan voters and the entrenched power in Washington that principle is more important than party loyalties.”

Wilson announced the endorsement of Linda Goldthorpe of Curtis, who sought the GOP nomination in 2008 and this year.

She said: “The recent Republican primary demonstrated . . . that true conservatives and libertarians would not be given a choice in the election of our next representative in Congress. Glenn Wilson is an independent who shares my most strongly held fears for our country. He also has the right answer: Less government.”

Grace in Defeat?

Last week, the Jackson Citizen Patriot, a downstate daily that does not closely follow northern politics, asked editorially:

“How often in politics do you see someone admit defeat with grace? For an example, look to state Senator Jason Allen.” It cited his decision to not seek a recount, despite the “few votes” lead held by Benishek.

Regardless of what motivated Allen from not mounting a costly and uncertain recount, the paper is correct that Benishek “should be thankful to Allen for stepping aside.”

George Weeks, a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of fame, for 22 years was the political columnist for The Detroit News and previously with UPI as Lansing Bureau Chief and foreign editor in Washington. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.