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The 2012 special election in Michigan's 11th congressional district was a special election that took place in Michigan on November 6, 2012, to replace Republican United States Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, who resigned after a failed presidential campaign and a series of scandals. Former autoworker David Curson, the Democratic nominee, narrowly defeated Republican nominee Kerry Bentivolio, a reindeer farmer, to win the seat for the last few months of McCotter's term.
Schedule
As a matter of convenience and cost saving, this special election was held in conjunction with the regularly scheduled general election on November 6, 2012. Voters were asked on the November ballot to select two candidates: one to serve the remainder of McCotter's term in the 112th Congress, and the other to serve the full 2-year term in the 113th Congress beginning in January 2013.[1]
Democratic primary
Candidates
- David Curson, labor activist
Despite the fact that Canton Township Trustee Syed Taj was the Democratic nominee in the regularly-scheduled general election, Taj did not opt to run in the special election and Curson did not opt to run in the general election.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Curson | 11,450 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 11,450 | 100.00 | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Kerry Bentivolio, reindeer farmer
- Nancy Cassis, former State Senator
- Kenneth Crider, steel worker
- Carolyn Kavanagh
- Steve King, former member of the Livonia School Board
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kerry Bentivolio | 10,280 | 41.69 | |
| Republican | Nancy Cassis | 8,803 | 35.70 | |
| Republican | Carolyn Kavanagh | 2,653 | 10.76 | |
| Republican | Steve King | 1,715 | 6.95 | |
| Republican | Kenneth Crider | 1,208 | 4.90 | |
| Total votes | 24,659 | 100.00 | ||
General election
The election to fill the remaining 6 weeks of McCotter's term was largely ignored as the attention was focused on the presidential election and the race for the full two-year term between Bentivolio and Taj.
Candidates
- Kerry Bentivolio, Republican nominee
- David Curson, Democratic nominee
- John J. Tartar, Libertarian Party nominee
- Marc J. Sosnowski, Constitution Party nominee
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Curson | 159,258 | 48.39 | |||
| Republican | Kerry Bentivolio | 151,736 | 46.10 | |||
| Libertarian | John Tatar | 11,606 | 3.53 | |||
| U.S. Taxpayers | Marc Sosnowski | 6,529 | 1.98 | |||
| Total votes | 329,137 | 100.00 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
See also
- List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
- Michigan's 11th congressional district
References
- ^ Eggert, David (July 10, 2012). "Lt. Gov. Brian Calley calls special $650K election to fill Thad McCotter's seat". MLive.com. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)