Dear Representative Bentivolio,

Liberty Candidates would like to convey our disappointment concerning
your voting record since being in office. You ran on a liberty platform,
promising to buck the status quo. Your actions, however, indicate you
have changed your position.

You voted “Yea” to H.R. 325, allowing an extension of the debt ceiling
as part of a compromise package in lieu of withholding the pay of U.S.
Representatives. Representatives who continue to fail our nation and
leave our federal government without a much-needed years-overdue
constitutionally-required budget again! The kicker is that it’s no
compromise at all: you all will be paid, you just may have to wait for it.

The concept behind initiatives such as “No budget, no pay” is to remind
legislators that the needs of the public come before the needs of
Congress. The “No budget, no pay” initiative should have easily passed
without a debt ceiling compromise because it was desired by an
overwhelming majority of the people. Not only that, the trade-off serves
only members of Congress, allowing them another chance to slide without
making tough decisions.

When the people’s support for a specific initiative is leveraged by
Congress to accomplish an agenda as unconstitutional and self-serving as
raising the debt ceiling, it is an insult to both the people and the
process.

The Liberty Candidates team has discussed your votes from the very
beginning. We wanted to see if perhaps you were just getting your feet
wet and would turn around. Yet, you did not: you voted for Speaker
Boehner. You called yourself a Reagan Republican, specifically stating
you are not a “Ron Paul person.” You voted to raise the debt ceiling
despite a clear mandate from the people. Your recent vote in favor of
the Monsanto Protection Act made it crystal clear you are NOT a Liberty
Candidate.

The intent of Liberty Candidates is to endorse candidates who support
the Constitution above all else. Those who see the Constitution as
negotiable are refused endorsement. Once elected, a Liberty Candidate is
expected to adhere to the principles set forth by Dr. Ron Paul, outlined
on our homepage.

You have deviated from these principles, Representative Bentivolio. Your
Liberty Candidates’ endorsement is hereby withdrawn.

Gigi Bowman and the Liberty Candidates Team

 [Ron Paul] is neither an ideologue nor a narcissist . . . but his uncompromising commitment to his principles is politically objectionable in my view. . . The “games” of American politics are utterly corrupt and broken, but the game is the game. It is not a concession to choose to play it when you know you can’t win everything. Compromise is not a dirty word – it is a necessary element of a just and enduring order.

First of all, one might reasonably ask: if the game really is “utterly corrupt and broken,” why continue to play it?

But the crux of Radagast’s argument comes later. He asserts that Ron Paul wrongly sticks to “moralism in an imperfect world.” Rather than doing that, Paul supposedly needs to learn from Machiavelli and Bill Clinton—he needs to learn to get his hands dirty to achieve what he wants. According to Radagast, a successful politician needs to adopt morally grayer means to achieve his (good) ends.

The issue of reconciling political means to ends is one that constantly reoccurs, especially in marginalized and relatively powerless groups like our own.

Yet, as in much else, I think the best discussion of the issue comes from Murray Rothbard, who argued that there really is no conflict between the two. Every end requires means to attain it, so the means can only be justified to the extent that the end can—and if an end can’t be justified, then no means can either. Conversely, if a particular means is bad, that can only mean that it is inconsistent with a more important end.

To bring this down to earth: I see nothing wrong with Ron Paul voting for a 1% tax cut, even though I would prefer a 50% or—best of all—100% decrease. My end is to roll back the government until it can drown in a teacup—the quicker we can accomplish that the better. Still, the 1% decrease might just be the best we can get at the moment, so it would be pointless to hold out for more if more were not forthcoming. Here there is no conflict between means and ends; the means are less than we might like, but they are still consistent with the ultimate goal.

On the other hand, Paul would be unjustified if, for instance, he threatened to murder the congressional Democrats unless they agreed to a bigger tax decrease. Murder is even worse than taxes, so by threatening it Paul would be acting inconsistently with another important end. He would also be unjustified if he promised his support for, say, ethanol subsidies in return for tax cuts—the classic “one step forward, two steps back.”

————————–

But just because sometimes a half-way measure is the best we can realistically accomplish, that doesn’t mean that compromise is somehow a good in itself. As G.K. Chesterton memorably put it, “Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf.”

It appears that many of Ron Paul’s critics take the “modern statesman’s” approach and value compromise for its own sake. But if they do, then they have little to worry about. Most everyone who doesn’t write for Mother Jones understands that the Republicans are nowhere near adopting laissez-faire purism. Those of us who can remember back to last month might recall how the Republicans ultimately capitulated to tax increases and then agreed to a truce over the debt ceiling. Those of us who follow politics a little more closely might also remember the Ron Paul-endorsed Kerry Bentivolio call himself “not really a Ron Paul person” after he was elected. Or the supposedly “libertarian” senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee’s attacks on Chuck Hagel’s non-aggressive foreign policy during the recent confirmation hearings. And of course, Rand Paul’s own deviations from his father are well-documented. If anything, the “uncompromising” politicians quickly start compromising once their careers begin. Despite what Radagast might fear, Machiavelli is alive and well in Washington.

By contrast, Ron Paul is so popular because he stands out from the crowd. He doesn’t compromise, while everyone else does. Does anyone really believe that he would have made more of an impact if he conducted his career like Lamar Alexander? Sure, he hasn’t had many political successes, but he did open up a whole generation to libertarian ideals. That’s a huge accomplishment. As for Lamar Alexander . . . well, you can look him up on Wikipedia.

Nevertheless, Radagast is correct that the Right needs to do more than just nay-saying. Ron Paul has done great things, but we need something more if we eventually want to win.

The problem is that most of the solutions offered essentially constitute a surrender of principle—they are inconsistent with ultimate goals. We hear incessantly, for instance, that Republicans need to make their peace with the welfare state or accept mass immigration. But if that’s what it takes to win, then what’s the point of winning? Just being able to say “We won” is small consolation for embracing and ratifying destructive political principles. To take a less dramatic example being willing to “vote trade”—swapping a vote for higher taxes in exchange for spending cuts—is almost as bad. If our ultimate goal is rolling back the government, it is hard to come up with a non-sophistical justification for how higher taxes will accomplish that.

So what then to do?

I’m not exactly sure. But I do see some promising options. For instance, I have written here before about “bleeding heart libertarianism” and about the states’ rights/Tenth Amendment movement. Though the two movements seem very different, they are both strategic, political means of advancing good ends without violating higher principles. They’re both about making libertarian or conservative ideas appeal to a wider array of normal, working people. As such, I think they offer much more promising avenues for change than some fuzzy “compromise.”

They are both incomplete and wouldn’t lead to any kind of victory overnight. But they are still helpful in the long-run by re-branding libertarian goals while staying true to libertarianism. I’m sure there are many other options too. Off the top of my head, opposition to war and support for breaking the state’s intellectual property grants are two other issues where pure libertarianism could be widely popular.

Above all, we just can’t lose sight of principle. I fear that Radagast’s proscriptions would do just that. They would turn the Republican Party into a party of Lamar Alexanders, not a party willing to fight for the principles we share.

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) – It’s the busiest time of the year for a newly elected U.S. Congressman.

As WWJ’s Sandra McNeill reports, Kerry Bentivolio is spending his final Christmas as a reindeer rancher in Milford before he moves to Washington.

As for the song that includes ‘up on the roof-top click, click, click’ … Bentivolio said reindeer can hear the clicking sound of their tendons … it allows them to know that other reindeer are near.

“They are herding animals,” said Bentivolio.

His reindeer flew in from Alaska and said they are house-broken, “if you bring them in the house, it’s guaranteed to get broken.”

His six reindeer are hired out for parades and other events, they weigh in at between 300-600 pounds each and Bentivolio said, they are friendly, love children and a scratch behind the ears. they’ll go through about 30 bags of reindeer chow a month.

Bentivolio has been maligned over his Santa business but said he doesn’t pay attention, it’s all about the joy his reindeer bring to people.

Although he no longer dresses up like St. Nick. “…(it’s about) the spirit of giving, a time for lights … absolutely wonderful.”

“They are trained to go on an elevator, they’ll even take an escalator,” he said. “They are trained to pull Santa’s sleigh. They love kids.”

Bentivolio won the seat left vacant by former Thaddeus McCotter after McCotter left office in the wake  of an investigation of McCotter and his campaign workers by the state Attorney General for possible fraud after the Secretary of State determined he submitted duplicate signatures to have his name put on the August Primary ballot.

Tea party favorite Bentivolio won the Republican primary in Michigan for the U.S. House  against Democratic nomination Syed Taj in November.

The 11th District includes Westland and Livonia in Wayne County, a piece of Southfield in Oakland County, Highland and White Lake Townships.

Most amazing to me is how stunned the Republicans are that they lost the presidency and the Senate. In their arrogance, they thought that white male supremacy would overcome the weak women and people of color to win these although the polls were all against them. By 1:00 this morning I had watched MSNBC for so many hours that I flipped over to Fox News to get a feel for their take on the election. It was refreshing to see four women of color with two white men on a panel discussing the reasons for Mitt Romney’s failure.

First the two men concentrated on how the Republicans failed to communicate their message. Then one of them agreed with the host that, yes, perhaps Romney should have been more open with their plans. Finally, the host turns to the women. The Fox employee talked about the importance of explaining the Republican message about economy to women.

I cheered when one of the women guests presented the simple statement that the Republican problem is not their messaging but their policies! I’ll keep that brief explanation handy in all my political discussions from now on. Another woman talked about the young people not understanding why the Republicans were anti-choice, anti-marriage equality—in short, anti-rights that they have come to expect. The women were quickly shuttled off, but not after I cheered them.

Fox News is also the source of yesterday’s funniest story. CEO Roger Ailes ordered the election team to prepare for the worst: “Guys, if things don’t go your way tonight, don’t go out there looking like someone ran over your dog.” However, American Crossroads co-founder and Fox News contributor Karl Rove isn’t used to following orders. Hearing that Fox was calling Ohio—and thus the presidency—for Barack Obama, he told the host, and the audience, that Fox’s decision desk was wrong. After all, his super-PAC had put $300 million on Romney. 

After a discussion with the host, Megyn Kelly was sent on camera to talk to the decision team. “This is Fox News,” an insider said, “so anytime there’s a chance to show off Megyn Kelly’s legs they’ll go for it.” And some people wonder why no one takes Fox “News” seriously! Rove stuck to his guns for almost an hour. He may have been surprised because of his connection to the possibly rigged voting machines in Ohio that gave George W. Bush enough votes to win the 2004 election.

As Alyssa Rosenberg wrote:

“The decision by [Fox] last night to break the firewall between its anchors and its decision team on behalf of a contributor, Karl Rove, who helped shepherd hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the outcome of an election and didn’t want to hear the final verdict on his investment, was already a sham, another illustration of a conservative allergy to facts and data. Sending an attractive woman to do that embarrassing work–rather than letting her continue to do her anchoring job, at which Kelly is frequently a credit to the network–on Rove’s behalf, to fake concern for the integrity of election results, and to send her in part so you can get her legs out from behind her desk, is strikingly juvenile and strikingly retrograde.”

After Karl Rove’s blowup, conservatives have passed around the blame for Romney’s loss. His own staff is blaming both him and other staff members. Fox News blames the media bias, especially when it insisted on reported the news about Romney’s “47 percent” mooching statements. Of course, moderators Martha Raddatz (ABC) and Candy Crowley (CNN) came in for their share of blame because of their style of moderating. The National Review wrote that people in this country are “not equipped” for liberty.

My small-town newspaper is owned by Ross Pobanz, a wealthy “self-made” entrepreneur who gets to publish an offensive weekly column about progressives because, as I said, he owns the newspaper!. Today’s column moved from toxic to rabid. After trashing President Obama’s policies in stereotypical terms, Pobanz defined those who support the president: “progressives and especially progressive women, the very young African-Americans, a majority of the Hispanics and people who can be bought with either benefits or promises of future benefits. Union members, trial lawyers, teachers, government employees, city dwellers, chronic malcontents and dedicated freeloaders such as Occupy…”

Those not in the president’s camp are “suburbanites, people without debt, ambitious people …, just about anyone with his head above the mush or at some degree of remove from government.” This is the divide in the conservative world.

As angry as Pobanz is, Donald Trump is even closer to the edge. In tweets that he tried—and failed—to erase, he wrote,  “We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!” Even so, Trump didn’t achieve the heights of Ted Nugent’s hate: “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

An apology for a mistake in yesterday’s blog: imagine my surprise when I got up this morning to find out that two of the three states voting on marijuana legalization had passed these initiatives! Living in a small, hippie-oriented areas of the Oregon Coast, I am accustomed to people talking about the use of cannabis, but my conservative Nebraska upbringing kept the notion of legalized weed from being part of my culture. Colorado and Washington voted to decriminalize small portions of the drug although Oregon failed to pass its more liberal bill. With other states legalizing medical use, the federal government will be forced to reevaluated its position on making marijuana legal.

The election of  two extra Democratic seats for the Senate and the switch in Nebraska’s seat from Democratic to Republican brought three additional women to the Senate for a total of 20. Two Democratic women are the first openly-LGBT senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and the first Asian-American woman, Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

The 77 women in the 113^th House is also a record. Although 2 percent fewer than in the Senate, the women include two veterans, Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and two women under the age of 40, Gabbard and Grace Meng (D-NY). Gabbard is also the first Hindu in Congress.

The increased Democratic diversity in the 113^th Congress means that, for the first time, white men will no longer be the majority of the Democratic caucus. Before the election, white men were 53 percent of House Democrats and 86 percent of the Republicans.

In 2012, the right-wing conservatives swept over 60 percent of state legislatures. Yesterday, Maine and Minnesota Democrats took back their Houses and Senates.  Colorado Democrats took back their House and will have the first openly gay Speaker to replace the one who blocked any consideration of a civil unions bill that had sufficient votes to pass. Iowa Democrats not only kept their Senate but also the one remaining judge who had the temerity to rule that a law opposing marriage equality was unconstitutional. The Tea Party got rid of the other three judges in 2010. California gained a supermajority in the legislature, giving them the power to overcome the gridlock from Republicans who refused to raise any taxes to keep the state solvent.

Michigan repealed its “Emergency Manager” law that allowed the governor to play dictator by overriding democratically-elected representatives in cities and schools, usually done in communities with high minority populations. It’s too late for Benton Harbor to save their park for children that a developer took over, but it saves the rest of the state. Michigan also refused to pass a law requiring a two-thirds’ majority for the legislature to raise taxes.

Any change in Arizona toward the liberal is still up in the air because many Latinos were forced to file provisional ballots. The results should in interesting.

Republicans had one success: the residents of Michigan’s 11th Congressional District elected a man who actually believes he is Santa Claus. Perhaps there’s something in the water in the district; Kerry Bentivolio replaces Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, known for his run for president, his falsification of names on petitions to run for representative, and his guitar-playing.

The best summary of the election comes from humorist Andy Borowitz.

Bentivolio, a former teacher, raises reindeer on a farm in Milford, moonlighting at events as Santa Claus with real reindeer — and he once said in a court deposition that he didn’t know who he really was: himself or Santa Claus. His brother Phillip Bentivolio gave an interview where he called him “mentally unbalanced” and predicted he’ll eventually spend time in prison.

His opponent was Democrat Syed Taj, a doctor and board member in Canton Township, who was questioned at public forums over his support of Obamacare.

“He doesn’t fit the mold of a typical politician,” supporter John Dalton said of Bentivolio. “He’s more like a Mr. Smith goes to Washington-type guy.”

Bentivolio liked that comparison to the hero of a Jimmy Stewart movie where a small town guy changes Washington.

“Yeah, that’s a good, I like that analogy. That sounds real good,” he said of the Mr. Smith reference.

The 11th District includes Westland and Livonia in Wayne County, a piece of Southfield in Oakland County, Highland and White Lake Townships.  The seat opened when McCotter resigned amid charges of phony signatures on his election forms.

So what happens to the reindeer farm?

“My son’s taking over,” Bentivolio said.

He added that he hopes things are about to change in politics.

“God blessed us. I hope he continues to bless us because we’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to go to Washington and we’re going to represent the 11th district like it’s never been represented,” he said during his acceptance speech.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bentivolio, a tea party favorite from Milford, will face Belleville Democrat David Curson, a Marine veteran and union activist, in the Nov. 6 special general election for the 11th District seat. The winner serves only from mid-November through year’s end.

Bentivolio got 10,280 votes, or 41.4 percent. The losing candidates in Wednesday’s GOP primary were former state Sen. Nancy Cassis of Novi, and three Livonia residents: Steve King, Kenneth Crider and Carolyn Kavanagh, who is the daughter of District Judge Sean Kavanagh.

Cassis got 8,804 votes, Kavanaugh 2,654, King 1,715 and Crider 1,208.

The 11th District currently covers a swath of Detroit’s western and northwestern suburbs and includes a large portion of western Wayne County and a section of southwestern Oakland County. The district’s boundaries were redrawn for the term that begins in January.

The Nov. 6 ballot also has a separate contest to decide who will fill the seat in 2013-14. Bentivolio, a former Fowlerville High School teacher who raises reindeer, faces Democratic Canton Township trustee and physician Syed Taj.

McCotter abruptly resigned July 6 during an investigation of irregularities in the nominating petitions that kept the Livonia Republican from seeking re-election.

The conservative-leaning district appeared to be McCotter’s to lose until election officials found that he had submitted nominating petitions with too few valid signatures to make it onto the Aug. 7 primary ballot.

Four former McCotter aides are facing state charges on accusations they participated in a scheme to submit false signatures, many of which had been forged or copied from other petitions.

MORE: Precinct Sees Only 5 Voters By Noon In Special Election

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

In fact, Michigan was the only state to lose population in the 2010 Census compared to ten years prior – led by the seemingly neverending decline of Detroit, a once great city tarnished by poor union economics and a government fueled by corruption, favoritism and an unpatriotic “us vs. them” mentality. With a regarded Republican governor in Rick Snyder, a Republican majority in the Michigan Legislature, and a Democratic winning streak in the electoral college dating back to 1992, Michigan is considered to be a proverbial swing state whose electoral sweepstakes are dependent on economics. This year, Mitt Romney seeks to add Michigan to his electoral college heft, while an increasingly pivotal Senate race looms and opportunities abound in a congressional delegation that is now one member less.

Senate | Tossup

This year was expected to be somewhat of a cakewalk for two-term Democrat Debbie Stabenow after she knocked off incumbent Republican Spencer Abraham in 2000 and a significant yet modest 2006 victory. However, there is always the argument “never say never”, and former Congressman and failed gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra appears to have proven it. Hoekstra has experienced more favorable poll numbers as of late, with four of the more recent polls showing Hoekstra within single digits. However, Hoekstra did face a “too little, too late” tea party challenge in the primary while also grappling with the fallout from a controversial Super Bowl ad that was meant to criticize China’s recent economic strength compared to stateside (and especially Michigan), but instead turned into a badly misguided and mishandled caricature of Asian-Americans and associated stereotypes. On top of his primary missteps, Stabenow also remains ahead of Hoekstra in the fundraising department, and for all the talk of Michigan being a swing state, the race is still Stabenow’s to lose. Still, if polling trends hold up, Hoekstra could provide the framework for a come-from-behind tell-all book.

District 1 | Tossup

As with its current incarnation, the new District 1 remains centered on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the northernmost parts of Lower Michigan, now extending westward to Traverse City in addition to Alpena. It is also still a swing district, and freshman Republican Dan Benishek is once again locking horns with 2010 Democratic nominee and former State Representative Gary McDowell. The two candidates have been neck-to-neck in individual donations with Benishek’s financial heft coming from his much larger share of PAC contributions – a common side effect of having the advantage of incumbency. What little polling has been done suggests a competitive race, and that fact alone is of no great surprise. On another note, this race will test the strength of congressional Republicans amongst populist-oriented voters who sympathize with Republican overtures on social issues but may have qualms of an increasingly dominant fiscal conservative message vis-à-vis the likes of Club for Growth and Grover Norquist.

District 2 | Solid GOP

Initially the subject of a primary challenge in this historically Republican, ancestrally Dutch American district in the western and northern outskirts of the Grand Rapids area, first-term Republican Bill Huizenga is now a solid favorite for reelection over Democratic write-in candidate Willie German Jr.

District 3 | Favor GOP

With the retirement of Ron Paul from his Texas congressional seat at the end of the current Congress, freshman Republican Justin Amash looks to pick up where the beloved libertarian-leaning conservative Republican will leave off. The addition of the blue-collar Democratic stronghold of Battle Creek to an otherwise Grand Rapids-centric district not only presents new opportunities and challenges for Amash, but also a competitive challenger in the form of Democratic former State Representative and small business owner Steve Pestka. Pestka has touted internal polls suggesting a competitive race, but Amash’s hefty individual contribution haul (over $800K to Pestka’s nearly $175K) stands to pose a challenge despite Pestka pouring in nearly $600K of his own money into the race. Ron Paul’s supporters will work overtime to ensure that Amash’s Washington stint is prolonged beyond that of the beloved Lake Jackson physician; trust me, they will not let this one slip out of their hands.

District 4 | Solid GOP

Now an entirely landlocked district situated in Midland, Mount Pleasant and in the fringes of the Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Lansing and Flint television markets, Republican House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp is a strong favorite for reelection over Democratic challenger Debra Freidell Wirth.

District 5 | Solid DEM

Longtime Democrat Dale Kildee, whose congressional service dates back to the days of Jimmy Carter, will be calling it a career in this district that radiates from Flint northward into Saginaw and Bay City. The Democratic nominee will be none other than Kildee’s nephew Dan Kildee, a former elected official in Flint and surrounding Genesee County who hopes to pick up where his uncle will leave off. The Republicans, on the other hand, will aim for a rare pickup opportunity with Jim Slezak, a former State Representative and former Democrat whose recent party switch was the most notable story for the latter candidate. But it appears that this seat will stay in the (Kildee) family after all.

District 6 | Solid GOP

Following a GOP primary scare stemming from past diversions from conservative orthodoxy, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton is a solid favorite for reelection over Democratic candidate Mike O’Brien, a farmer and former alternative energy executive by trade in this southwest Michigan seat based in Kalamazoo.

District 7 | Solid GOP

Now wrapped around the western suburbs of Lansing, the Jackson and Adrian areas, the Michigan side of the Toledo television market and Washtenaw County just outside of Ann Arbor, Republican Tim Walberg is expected to be an easy victor over Democratic attorney Kurt Haskell.

District 8 | Solid GOP

Republican incumbent and House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers’ new district remains a split between the traditionally Democratic state capital of Lansing and surrounding Ingham County and solidly Republican exurban Livingston and northern Oakland counties. The bad news is that teacher and 2010 Democratic nominee Lance Enderle will be on the ballot this time. But the good news is that Rogers is a solid favorite for reelection.

District 9 | Solid DEM

This district, still centered in southern Macomb and Oakland counties, was initially drawn to throw a curveball into the reelection plans of moderate Democrat Gary Peters, whose Oakland County district was eliminated in redistricting and led to a situation where Peters was paired up with veteran Democratic lawmaker and House Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin. Peters ultimately chose not to run for reelection here, leaving Levin with a 2010 rematch against Republican repeat challenger Don Volaric. The outcome should still remain the same.

District 10 | Solid GOP

Still based in northern Macomb County and the Michigan Thumb, Republican Candice Miller remains the solid favorite for reelection. Chuck Stadler provides the Democratic opposition.

District 11 | Leans GOP

The battle for this district, now centered in the northwest corner of Wayne County around Livonia as well as much of southern Oakland County (Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Novi, Auburn Hills), has certainly evolved into a bizarre race. First, Republican incumbent and one-time presidential contender Thad McCotter had surprisingly fallen short of the 1,000 petition signatures required to qualify for the Republican primary. Second, McCotter canceled plans for a write-in bid and instead decided to retire from Congress. Suddenly, it was also revealed that the overwhelming majority of signatures were invalid, which led to four members of McCotter’s campaign staff being charged with forgery, as well as a special election following McCotter’s resignation that will cost taxpayers well over half a million dollars.

The result is a complicated situation with Vietnam War veteran, teacher, reindeer farmer, and part-time Santa Claus Kerry Bentivolio serving as the Republican nominee, having beat back a write-in challenge from Republicans concerned about Bentivolio’s ability to win the Republican-oriented district. The Democrats have nominated Indian-born Syed Taj, a trustee in the suburban village of Canton who is a physician (in fact, the Chief of Medicine at a local hospital) by trade who himself beat back a challenge from a Lyndon LaRouche activist. On Wednesday, there will be a special election to determine the Republican nominee for McCotter’s unexpired term. Bentivolio holds the edge at this point given the district’s political lean, but anything can happen. (Editor’s note: Trust me, I’ve been through it before when Tom DeLay resigned)

District 12 | Solid DEM

Of all the reelections over his half-century career in Washington, John Dingell faced his toughest test in 2010. This year, Dingell is an easy favorite for reelection over Republican nominee Cynthia Kallgren, a Tea Party activist and small business owner in this Ann Arbor-to-Dearborn district who won her party’s nomination by the slimmest of margins.

District 13 | Solid DEM

Now stretching from west and central Detroit to such working-class suburbs as Westland and Romulus (in fact, it is the only district entirely within Wayne County), veteran Democratic incumbent (and top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee) John Conyers chose to swap districts with freshman Democrat Hansen Clarke and the rest is history. Conyers is now the overwhelming favorite for reelection. Harry Sawicki provides the Republicans with a warm body for the general election.

District 14 | Solid DEM

As for Hansen Clarke, as well as Gary Peters, both incumbent Democrats decided to seek reelection in a district that now encompasses both downtown and the northern and eastern edges of Detroit, the Democratic bastions of Southfield and Pontiac in Oakland County, the heavily mixed Jewish and black communities of Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield, and the upscale Grosse Pointe enclaves (the latter areas of which I believe would be better off in either Sander Levin’s or even Candice Miller’s district). This is indeed a very odd district, and in the end Peters came out the victor, with only Republican nominee and 2010 nominee John Hauler standing in the way.

President | Tossup

Most observers did not expect Michigan to fall into the Tossup column at first. But for starters, if you were to really think about it, Michigan has never really been considered a blue state in the first place. It has had its history of long-tenured Republican governors (Milliken and Engler, for one). It has elected longstanding Democrats to the Senate (Riegle, for one). And asides from deeply Democratic Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Flint and traditionally Republican West Michigan, virtually all of Michigan is considered up for grabs. With the son of a well-known former Governor seeking the presidential nomination on the Republican ticket, there stands a fighting chance that the Elephant Stampede will count Michigan as their ultimate decider on November the 6th. But the Donkey Brigade is not to be underestimated; Republicans have not won the state on a presidential level since George H.W. Bush in 1988. And in that election, Oakland County gave the elder Bush 61 percent of the vote. Whether or not the Bloomfield Hills-raised Romney ultimately carries the state may come down to his performance in the county he grew up in. If Barack Obama does carry Oakland County, which he did by a margin not unlike his statewide margin in 2008, it is hard to imagine a scenario where Romney wins the state’s 16 electoral votes.

Current Score

President: Romney 9, Obama 4, Tossup 51. (474 to go)

Senate: 5 Republicans, 3 Democrats (including Carl Levin), 1 Independent caucusing with Democrats, 3 Tossups (88 to go).

House: Elephant Stampede 32, Donkey Brigade 16, Splitsville 4. (383 to go)

Governors: 1 Tossup, plus 5 existing Republicans (including Rick Snyder). (44 to go)

Next stop: West Virginia.

According to the records, which were obtained by the Detroit Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act, the 11th District Republican nominee was issued a written reprimand dated June 7 and signed by Fowlerville High School’s assistant principal.
“Most students reported that they felt threatened and unsure of what you would do,” Myriah Lillie wrote.

Bentivolio soon after reached a settlement with the district and resigned, the Free Press reported Wednesday.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from Bentivolio on Wednesday.

A reindeer farmer from Milford who has never held elective office, Bentivolio is running for the U.S. House seat abandoned by former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter.
The school records stated that on the first day of school last year, Bentivolio told students in his Fowlerville High English class that he wanted to make each one of them cry at least once. He also told students they were “just a paycheck to me,” according to a description of incidents in his personnel file.
School administrators reprimanded Bentivolio for intimidating and threatening students by grabbing their desks, yelling in their faces and slamming his fists on their desks.

Bentivolio reached a settlement with the school district and resigned on June 8, the day after the written reprimand from Lillie was issued.

He wrote on evaluations, reprimands and a teacher-improvement plan that the allegations against him were untrue and “politically motivated.”

Bentivolio was the only Republican on the ballot in this month’s GOP primary, which he easily won against write-in challenger Nancy Cassis, a former state senator from Novi.

He will face Democratic candidate, Syed Taj, a Canton Township trustee, in November’s general election.
Bentivolio also is running against four other Republicans in a Sept. 5 special primary election to fill the remaining six weeks of McCotter’s congressional term. The winner of that race will face Democrat David Curson of Belleville in the special Nov. 6 election to fill the rest of McCotter’s term.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Kerry Bentivolio, who supported libertarian Ron Paul in the GOP presidential race, won the primary election Tuesday in the suburban Detroit district previously held by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, who resigned abruptly last month after failing to gather enough valid petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Republicans had expected McCotter, a quirky congressman who mounted a quixotic presidential campaign last year, to win easy re-election, but his sudden downfall left the GOP scrambling to find a credible replacement.

Many local Republican leaders backed a write-in campaign by former state legislator Nancy Cassis, but Bentivolio - who was already on the ballot – prevailed. In an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, he attributed his victory to “divine intervention” and acknowledged he had little hope of winning until McCotter bowed out.

“I decided to get my name on the ballot, if for nothing else, to have a soap box where I could lay out some of the problems we have in the Republican Party,” said Bentivolio, a former teacher and Army veteran who served in Vietnam and later with the National Guard in Iraq. He described his primary victory as “a win for the average, middle-class American.”

Democrats nominated Syed Taj, a physician and township trustee who trounced a Lyndon LaRouche supporter in the primary.

Strategists for both parties, who had seen the seat as a near-certain hold before McCotter’s downfall, said the race could become a toss-up – even though the already Republican-leaning district became even more so after its boundaries were redrawn following the 2010 census.

Democrats pounced on pre-election statements by Republicans who described Bentivolio as outside the mainstream. Cassis labeled him “Krazy Kerry” after he played a role in a low-budget movie that explored a conspiracy theory around the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“Now after conspiring against him, establishment Republicans are stuck with Kerry Bentivolio, a candidate so bizarre and out of touch, it’s unclear who beyond the extreme right-wing would ever embrace him,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said Republicans would have trouble uniting behind Bentivolio.

“There’s open war in the Oakland County Republican Party,” Brewer said. “Every establishment Republican in Oakland County attacked Bentivolio and said, `We won’t support this guy.’ … There’s been return fire from the tea party folks.”

Cassis issued a statement that congratulated Bentivolio and wished him well but stopped short of an endorsement. Some Republicans were closing ranks around their nominee, emphasizing his military background and support of limited government and lower taxes. “He’s a common-sense conservative,” state GOP spokesman Matt Frendewey said.

Before the election, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson backed Cassis and criticized Bentivolio for positions such as advocating withdrawal of U.S. troops overseas. But Patterson said Wednesday that Bentvolio had won the primary “fair and square.”

“I may not agree with all his views, but he’s going to be the Republican nominee,” Patterson said. “I’m a card-carrying Republican, and I’ll support him.”

Some GOP insiders may quietly sit out the race, while others may decide they have little choice but to back Bentivolio, said Tom Shields, a Lansing political operative. If he doesn’t measure up during his first term, a more established candidate can challenge him in 2014, Shields said.

“Whoever wins that district, odds are he’s one and done,” he said. If Taj scores an upset, “you’d have Republicans coming out of the woodwork to run against him two years from now.”

Bentivolio also may draw support from tea party and pro-Paul independent groups. Liberty for All, a political action committee based in Austin, Texas, spent $658,000 on a media blitz for Bentivolio, founder John Ramsey said.

Taj, 65, who practices internal medicine in Dearborn, said the district isn’t as solidly Republican as some believe and could prove receptive to a moderate Democrat. He hopes to frame the race as between a right-wing extremist and a “forward thinking physician with a proven track record of success.”

Frendewey said Taj was “a wealthy doctor” who favors putting health care in the hands of “bureaucrats in Washington.”

MORE: Bentivolio To Face Taj For McCotter’s Seat

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Michigan, Missouri, Washington Liberty Candidate Primary Report:

FOUR Liberty Winners!

Liberty took FOUR seats in yesterday’s primaries!!!! Congratulations to Andy Sebolt and Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan; Cynthia Davis and Robyn Hamlin in Missouri. On to victory in November 2012! Please support these liberty candidates for that victory. Click on their names to go to their page — you’ll see a donation link right there handy.Our liberty candidates — all of us — are fighting a well-financed machine. If we want liberty in our lifetimes, we need to start putting our money where our hungry mouths are.

Unfortunately, Liberty lost four possible seats: one in Michigan — David Dudenhoefer, one in Missouri — Jason Greene, and two in Washington: Eli Olson and Ike Eichner.

A Liberty Candidate Grows Roots for All of Us!

Thank you all for running! If you didn’t win this time, we’ll look for you next time. Liberty Candidates make all the difference to the Liberty Movement and now you know the ropes. Never give up — the rest of us clearly need to work harder on our end!

Keep us posted on what’s next for you. How can the liberty movement capitalize on what you’ve started in your state, your county, your town? Thank you again for stepping up to the plate.

Blessings on us all.

Gigi and Sally

Bentivolio is a reindeer farmer from the Oakland County community of Milford who has never held elective office. He was the only Republican on Tuesday’s ballot after McCotter failed to produce enough valid petition signatures to qualify. McCotter resigned last month.

Former state Sen. Nancy Cassis and Drexel Morton of Wayne County’s Canton Township waged write-in campaigns after McCotter’s candidacy imploded. Cassis had the backing of the most elected officials in Michigan’s Republican-leaning 11th district, which includes Oakland and Wayne counties near Detroit.

Meantime, Taj won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House seat formerly held by McCotter.

Taj defeated Bill Roberts of Wayne County’s Redford Township, a Lyndon LaRouche supporter who called for President Barack Obama to be impeached.

Taj, a physician and trustee in Wayne County’s Canton Township, will be the underdog in Michigan’s Republican-leaning 11th District, which includes portions of Oakland and Wayne counties near Detroit.

McCotter was expected to win re-election easily but resigned after failing to produce enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest primary election results.

Get the latest U.S. Senate, House, and State House election results here.

Find local election results by county at the following links:

Oakland County Results

Wayne County Results

Macomb County Results

Washtenaw County Results

Livingston County Results

St. Clair County Results

Monroe County Results

TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pete Hoekstra of Holland has an advantage in money and name recognition over Clark Durant of Grosse Pointe as they duke it out for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in a race that also includes former Kent County Judge Randy Hekman of Grand Rapids. Gary Glenn’s name appears on the ballot, but he dropped out several weeks ago.

Hoekstra, a former longtime congressman and 2010 gubernatorial candidate, has strong support from the Republican establishment and a better statewide campaign operation. But Durant has been getting help from campaign ads run by an independent group, Prosperity for Michigan. The Detroit charter school foundation executive hopes to stun the front-runner with a come-from-behind victory fueled in part by tea party supporters.

Democratic Congressmen Hansen Clarke of Detroit and Gary Peters of Oakland County’s Bloomfield Township are battling in the 14th District running from Detroit into Oakland County, along with several other candidates. If Peters wins, he’ll fill a traditionally black seat in Congress.

Civil rights icon Rep. John Conyers of Detroit also faces a primary challenges from several candidates in the 13th District. Victors in those two primaries are expected to easily win in November.

In the 11th District that includes Oakland County and western Wayne County, former state Sen. Nancy Cassis has handed out thousands of dusty red silicone bracelets that have her name and “11th District” embossed on them to help voters remember how to write in her name, although she acknowledges it’s an uphill battle.

Former teacher Kerry Bentivolio, who raises reindeer near Milford, was the only candidate on the Republican ballot for the 11th District congressional race after U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter failed to submit enough valid signatures and then dropped out of the race. That lasted only until Cassis and Drexel Morton of Wayne County’s Canton Township launched write-in campaigns, with Cassis getting the backing of most of the district’s elected officials

Bentivolio’s campaign has asked the secretary of state’s office to ban the bracelets, saying they violate a state law banning the display of any material that makes reference to an election within 100 feet of a polling place. But a spokesman for GOP Secretary of State Ruth Johnson says the bracelets, into which the information has been cut rather than printed, are legal.

Woodhams added that voters don’t have to write in Cassis’ exact name for the vote to count, although they do need to remember to darken the oval next to the write-in candidate’s name.

Cassis campaign spokesman David Mroz said the 68-year-old realizes only three people ever have won a congressional seat as a write-in candidate, but she’s working hard to win Tuesday’s GOP primary and the chance to take on the winner of the Democratic primary in November.

“I really feel like we’ve done the best job possible to pull off something that’s near impossible,” Mroz said.

In the 11th District Democratic race, physician and Canton Township Trustee Syed Taj faces Bill Roberts of Wayne County’s Redford Township, a Lyndon LaRouche supporter who thinks President Barack Obama should be impeached, largely for foreign policy reasons.

Other major congressional contests include southwest Michigan’s 6th District, where Jack Hoogendyk of Kalamazoo County’s Texas Township is working to defeat veteran GOP Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph after failing to do so two years ago; and west Michigan’s 3rd District, where Democrats Trevor Thomas of Grand Rapids and Steve Pestka of Ada are battling for the chance to take on GOP incumbent Justin Amash in November.

Voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are voting Tuesday on a special millage to support the Detroit Institute of Arts. The institute says it will have to sharply curtail services if the 10-year millage doesn’t pass. Read more about local issues, here.

Do you know where to vote?  Find your polling place and a sample ballot at this link. There, you’ll also find an election calendar, absentee voter information and instructions on how to use voting equipment.

Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for complete election coverage and results throughout the evening.

U.S. Senate, House, and State House election results will be found here.

Find local election results by county at the following links:

Oakland County Results

Wayne County Results

Macomb County Results

TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A write-in candidate who could win? It doesn’t happen often.

“This is one of our greatest freedoms in the United States – to be able to have a free, open election and a write-in campaign is perfectly within constitutional legality,” said Cassis.

Cassis is facing Kerry Bentivolio, along with other certified write-in candidates including former state Sen. Loren Bennett and Drexel Morton, both of Canton.

The 11 District seat was held by Thaddeus McCotter, and it encompasses parts of western Wayne and Oakland counties.

The only name that appears on the ballot belongs to Bentivolio, of Milford — but pollsters believe Cassis could overcome the fact people have to physically write in her name at the ballot box.

Cassis has the nod from the state’s Republican machine, getting endorsements from many GOP leaders to take the seat held by U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter. McCotter dropped out after it was discovered his campaign submitted false  signatures in support of his re-election bid.

Cassis is relying on a catchy jingle: “Nothing fancy, write in Nancy.”