2014's Weirdest GOP Primary: Santa vs. Scrooge

[xchrom]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/david-trott-kerry-bentivolio-michigan


Trott for Congress; Kerry Bentivolio/Facebook

In a year where business-friendly Republicans are lining up to challenge tea party-renegades, the GOP primary in Michigan's 11th district defies political convention. In one corner is freshman Rep. Kerry Bentivolio—a former Santa impersonator and reindeer rancher who was elected almost by accident last fall after the five-term incumbent abruptly quit. In the other is David Trott, a lawyer who has been dubbed the "foreclosure king" of a state in which 38 percent of mortgages are underwater.

"It's one of the oddest primaries probably in the country," says Bill Ballenger, a former Republican state senator who runs the site Inside Michigan Politics.

If Bentivolio is Santa, Trott's political rivals are working to frame the challenger as something closer to Scrooge. "Whether or not we want to make an issue of it, his record is representing most of the major Wall Street banks and kicking people out of homes in the district," says Bentivolio's campaign manager, David Wolkinson. "I mean, this is where he made his money."

Trott's campaign notes that the candidate has a wide array of business interests, but his financial disclosure forms leave no doubt that foreclosures are where he made his fortune. Through various interconnected concerns, Trott is involved in virtually every aspect of the foreclosure business.