Are Establishment Republicans About To Dump A Michigan Santa Claus Impersonator For A Foreclosure Lawyer?

Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) is one freshman who has not been embraced by the GOP House Establishment. The very strange Tea Party activist is very much an accidental congressman, who slipped into office when long-time GOP incumbent, Thaddeus McCotter, resigned as part of a deal to keep him out of prison for election fraud. Bentivolio has a typical GOP voting record (a ProgressivePunch score of 6.73) and hasn't done anything to distinguish himself since being elected last year. The former reindeer rancher and professional Santa Claus impersonator was involved in a long drawn out bankruptcy and attendant law suits after one of his many shaky business ventures failed. Backed by the Tea Party Express, Bentivolio is an NRA-zombie who claims to be a libertarian, although somehow rarely seems to get behind Justin Amash when libertarians are taking the tough stands against the GOP's corrupt party establishment. He's on Issa's Oversight Committee and does whatever Issa tells him to do.

Although a Democrat beat him to fill the remainder of McCotter's term, Steve Israel decided to throw the seat away rather than back the Muslim-American Democratic nominee, making it possible for Bentovolio to win the 2012 election. The district has a PVI of R+4. Obama beat McCain there, 50-48%, but lost to Romney 52-47%.

Now Establishment Republicans would like to see Bentivolio jettisoned and replaced by one of their own. David Trott is best known in Michigan as a very wealthy and very slimy eviction attorney. He makes a living kicking people out of their homes for banksters. A six-figure donor, he's been very strategic in his political contributions-- lots of money to the Michigan GOP congressmen like Camp, Rogers, Hoekstra, McCotter and to the state party and national party-- and to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. And no money to teabaggers or Tea Party front groups. He was a major Romney backer and gave $200,000 to Restore Our Future, the shady SuperPAC smearing Romney's GOP opponents and then Obama on behalf of his failed presidential campaign.

Bentivolio has been unable to raise much campaign cash and had less than $38,000 in his campaign account at the end of June. That's Trott's opening. Will national teabaggers come to Bentivolio's aid-- or will they let his seat by taken over by a multimillionaires foreclosure lawyer? And the DCCC? Nowhere in sight, of course. So far there is no Democratic Party candidate to run against Bentivolio or the foreclosure lawyer.