Michigan's 11th congressional district special election, 2012

Michigan's 11th congressional district special election, 2012
Michigan
November 6, 2012
 
Nominee David Curson Kerry Bentivolio
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 159,258 151,736
Percentage 48.39% 46.10%

Michigan's 11th congressional district at the time of the 2012 special election.
Representative before election

Thaddeus McCotter
Republican

 Elected Representative

David Curson
Democratic

Elections in Michigan

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 be 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

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

Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Curson 11,450 100.00
Total votes 11,450 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[2]
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 McCotter and Taj.

Candidates

Election results

Michigan's 11th congressional district special election, 2012[3]
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

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/12SP1/12SP1all.html
  3. ↑ http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/12GEN/06011008.html