Another Republican Congressman Calling It Quits-- Michigan Foreclosure King Dave Trott Heads For The Hills

Dave Trott, the guy who made a living evicting little old ladies from their homes during snow storms, is the latest congressional Republican announcing his retirement. A- Excellent! B- If there was a competent DCCC there would never have been a Congressman Trott to begin with. DCCC chair Steve Israel boosted him by undercutting his progressive opponent who was guilty of the crime of being Muslim. Yeah, you thought it was only Republicans with that kind warped degenerate mind? Nope Pelosi pulled Blue Dog scumbag Steve Israel out of the toilet to head her DCCC-- twice!

Trott was first elected in 2014 after beating a pyscho-teabagger Kerry Bentivolio, in a district covering the suburns west and northwest of Detroit-- southern Oakland County (Troy, Birmingham, Novi, Wixon, Bloomfield Hills) and western Wayne County (Livonia, Northville, Plymouth). Obama won the district, narrowly, in 2008 and, after gerrymandering, lost in narrowly in 2012. Last year it was Trump's worst-performing of the 9 GOP-held Michigan districts. He beat Clinton 49.7% to 45.3%. The DCCC had no interest in helping the Democratic candidate there-- Anil Kumar-- and Trott was reelected with just 52.9% of the vote, the worst performance for any Michigan Republican incumbent, although-- of course-- the DCCC spent millions in other districts on dirty GOP-lite Blue Dogs. Kumar absolutely would have beaten Trott had someone blown up the DCCC in 2015.

This cycle, the Democrats have a candidate, Haley Stevens, who probably could have beaten Trott. She was the chief of staff for the Obama administration’s auto bailout and her unparalleled expertise in manufacturing is sorely lacking inside the halls of Congress; she’s an excellent fit for the district.

Trott is a garden variety rubber stamp Republican with a 97.6% Trump adhesion score, about as bad as it comes. On Monday he announced that "This was not an easy decision, but after careful consideration, I have decided that the best course for me is to spend more time with my family and return to the private sector."

Political analysts at the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball promptly changed their ratings for Michigan’s 11th District from “likely” Republican to a toss-up to reflect Democrats’ increased chances of flipping the seat.

“Midterm elections typically are challenging for the presidential party, particularly if the president is unpopular, as Donald Trump is at the moment,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“So while MI-11 is a Republican-leaning district ... a favorable Democratic environment could easily put it in play, and Democrats could very well nominate a strong challenger.”

President Donald Trump won the district by about 4.5 percentage points last fall-- slightly worse than Mitt Romney fared in the well-educated, affluent district in 2012, Kondik noted.

Trott’s retirement comes as another Michigan congressman, GOP Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph, pushed back against rumors that he’s leaving Congress.

Upton, a member of the U.S. House since 1987, is still considering running for re-election or for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

“Fred is very happy with his day job and very focused on the work he’s doing for our region and state,” Upton spokesman Tom Wilbur said. “He is exploring all of his options, but retirement is not in the cards.”

Trott’s post-congressional plans were not immediately clear. In the House, Trott sits on the Committee on Financial Services, which he joined earlier year.

Trott was taking substantial bribes from the banksters he was charged, as a member of the Financial Services Committee, with overseeing. Since getting to Congress, Trott has gobbled up $614,065 in legalistic bribes from the crooks he's consistently voted to deregulate. This cycle Stevens was matching him dollar for dollar in the fund-raising department As of the June 30 FEC reporting deadline, Trott had $284,191 in his campaign war chest and Stevens had $281,387. MI-11 is clearly the Democrats' best shots for flipping a red seat blue and not even the regular gross incompetence will cause the DCCC to fail to see the viability of Stevens. This is what she told us last night:

"This is a new moment. My campaign is about people, our community, and working families. I am running for Congress to usher in a 21st century labor movement, to address the broken system that has resulted in over 40% of Michigan families being unable to pay for basic necessities, where student loan debt topples an average of $30,000. The time is now to send a new and progressive voice to Washington and be a real voice representing the people of Michigan's 11th district. Yes we can and yes we will."