In the seriously confusing race to replace Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, reindeer herder Kerry Bentivolio won the Republican primary yesterday for the special election to complete the term McCotter ditched. Not many people bothered to vote. From the Detroit Free Press:
"My workers were texting me all day that they were so bored," said Livonia City Clerk Terry Marecki, who said she initially thought about 10% of the city's voters would cast ballots Wednesday, but ended up with only about 7%."I told them to bring their Kindles and their magazines to the precincts."In Novi, City Clerk Maryanne Cornelius said about 6% of the city's voters turned out for the special election, most by absentee ballot."It's been such a slow day," she said. "It's so sad."
Bentivolio finished 1,400 votes ahead of former State Senator Nancy Cassis. Bentivolio got nearly $50,000 in help from the super PAC Liberty for All, which supports Ron Paul. That help included the mailer below (the real Nancy Cassis not pictured).
Now Bentivolio moves on to the November 6 election, when he will run both to replace McCotter temporarily and for a full two-year term. McCotter quit after his nominating petitions turned out to be a (potentially criminal) cut-and-paste job. The special election is expected to cost local government $650,000. Yesterday the state of Michigan told Oakland County the expense was "really unfortunate," but, basically, get over it.