Democrat wins six-week term in special election at heavily R district (after McCotter resignation)

[alp227]

Interesting. On election day, Thaddeus McCotter's former district in Michigan (the 11th district, heavily conservative suburbs west of Detroit/north of Ann Arbor) had both a special election to fill the remainder of McCotter's term and regular election for the regular 113th congressional term. McCotter resigned over possible ballot petition fraud. He was also a presidential candidate for this year. David Curson, a UAW representative and Democrat, won the special election over Bentivolio. Note that MI-11 was redrawn for the 113th Congress (effective Jan. 2013). So the special election was for the old 11th district, the regular election for the new 11th district that included even MORE right wing communities than before. (In Michigan, the state legislature draws the district for both state legislative and congressional districts. So we missed an opportunity for a House steal. But I wish Curson well in VERY brief time in Congress and hope he gets a newly found passion for public service from it.)

In August, the Detroit Free Press published an expose on Bentivolio's teaching career, "While a teacher, 11th District candidate Bentivolio's behavior was a problem, records show":

On the first day of school last year, Kerry Bentivolio told students in his English class at Fowlerville High School that he had one goal: to make each one of them cry at least once.

Bentivolio's declarations earned him a verbal reprimand from his assistant principal and a formal letter demanding that he correct his behavior.

Nine months later, school administrators reprimanded him for intimidating and threatening students by grabbing their desks and yelling in their faces or for slamming his fists on their desks.

Similar incidents occurred throughout the school year, according to the written reprimand dated June 7 and signed by assistant principal Myriah Lillie. "Most students reported that they felt threatened and unsure of what you would do," she wrote.

A day later, faced with an aggressive teacher-improvement plan, Bentivolio reached a settlement with the district and resigned.

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

Yep. This creep STILL won election. Shows what kind of fools live in his district. What a country this is.

If you want, here's the Rate My Teachers page for KB.

Furthermore The Oakland Press, the county regional paper in Bentivolio's area (Detroit and Bentivolio's hometown Milford are in different counties) reported:

His former students had varying opinions of him — some calling him a “great teacher” and some calling him “creepy.”

One former student, a 2006 graduate and Rochester resident, said she got “creepy vibes” from him. She wished to remain anonymous because she said she is intimidated by him and has run into him since graduation. She said she was “disgusted” when she learned he was running for Congress.

“I had him for a history class my sophomore year I believe, and he used to ask me and another female student to come over to his house and play with his reindeer all the time and said he would pay us to feed them and dress up as elves with them at Christmas time,” she said. “ I know other women, even from different grades, have similar stories about him too from their time with him as a teacher at NDP.”

Independence Township resident Camy Sylvestre, another 2006 graduate, confirmed the anonymous student’s response — saying she has recently talked to several of her former classmates who had similar opinions.

“These accusations aren't all that hard for me to believe,” said Sylvestre.

Another graduate Anthony Cojocari, Rochester Hills native, said, “I did not like the guy. He had a bad reputation and would be angry in the halls. ... Troubled war vet?”

[TruthTeller]

1. It is the Oakland Press not the Oakland Times...

I live in the area and we stopped receiving that paper years ago. They are right wing crazy. Bentivolio also believes he is Santa Claus. We had a Prop 2 for Collective Bargaining and it failed. I am sure nut cases who voted for him voted no on the Prop. ONe of the ads stated teacher contracts in Bay City gave teachers 5 chances to be drunk at school. Unfortunately, the union probably had to "protect" this crazy.

[alp227]

2. Oh, fixed the name. Thanks.

So I guess with the collective bargaining prop getting rejected, Rick Snyder wants to be the Scott Walker of Michigan now? The union-busting mentality spread from that other state across Lake Michigan?

[TruthTeller]

5. Tricky Ricky keeps saying he doesn't care about RTW...

hopefully it is true. The polls state 70% like Collective bargaining so that may help. I t was the awful lies that killed Prop 2.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. We didn't field a very good candidate against him.

I'm sorry but the Dr. Taj just wasn't a serious candidate.

I do think we have a real shot at it in 2014. Bentivolio is a nut job.

[alp227]

6. Well, that newspaper actually endorsed Syed Taj for MI-11.

"EDITORIAL: Taj emerges as best candidate in District 11":

Oakland County is represented in Washington by a trio of experienced and respected members of Congress, and all three -- Republican Mike Rogers of District 8 and Democrats Sander Levin of District 9 and Gary Peters of the District 14 -- have earned our strong endorsement for re-election on Nov. 6.

Each has been a leader in his respective party and they are ever alert to the needs of their constituents.

...Taj is our choice to represent the diverse District 11 in the next Congress because of his expressed willingness to engage directly with voters of every persuasion. He will listen to all sides of an argument before making a decision or agreeing to a compromise.

In this regards, Taj’s experience as a trustee in a large and diverse community such as Canton and his training and experience as a physician at a busy hospital give him an edge over his Republican opponent.

This newspaper's ed board seems to be politically independent rather than heavily partisan. In fact, the Oakland Press endorsed Romney for president. (Romney spent his childhood in the Oakland County city Bloomfield Hills.) The editorial concluded: "Let’s face it: Romney is more of a businessman than a politician. You can resent his wealth all you want, but he has a proven record as a turnaround artist."

[kevink077]

4. Dr. Taj

He was a very good candidate on the issues, the problem was he was hit with ugly and despicable racist ads. His accent hurt too. Very sad that the people chose a nut job who is not fit for any public office over Dr. Taj, who would have made a fine rep.