The 2012 special election in Michigan's 11th congressional district was a special election that took place in
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
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.
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
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
, Taj did not opt to run in the special election and Curson did not opt to run in the general election.
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
*
Kerry Bentivolio, reindeer farmer
*
Nancy Cassis, former
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
History
There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
* Kenneth Crider, steel worker
* Carolyn Kavanagh
* Steve King, former member of the
Livonia
Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...
School Board
Results
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
See also
*
List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
*
Michigan's 11th congressional district
References
{{2012 United States elections
United States House of Representatives 11 special
Michigan 11 special
2012 11 special
Michigan 2012 11
Michigan 11
United States House of Representatives 2012 11