One time king of foreclosures in Michigan, David Trott, may be headed to defeat in Michigan's 11th Congressional district. Trott is vying to replace Rep. Kerry Bentivolio against Bentivolio, Democrat Bobby McKenzie and Libertarian John Tatar.
Bentivolio lost the Republican nomination to Trott in August, but has decided to run as a write-in candidate.
Trott has dumped another $1 million of his own fortune into the campaign, bringing his total self funding to $3.4 million, our friends at Electablog report. And how did Trott gain all that cash? Well, while the state and the country was being crushed by the 2008 economic crisis, Trott – with his foreclosure empire headed by Trott & Trott – was busy foreclosing on homes all over the state. Not content to make a fortune just booting people out of their homes, Trott bought up businesses that are also necessary for the foreclosure process – from a title agency to a newspaper to advertise foreclosure actions as required by law. Trott turned his agency into a one stop shop for quick foreclosure.
Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. has a different label for it. He called the Trott empire a machine "meant to feed off of human misery," and Hertel would know. Since taking the reigns in Ingham, he has been a national leader in the fight against foreclosure fraud and foreclosures.
Despite being booted to the curb by Republican voters in August, Bentivolio, the "accidental" congressman from Michigan, has decided to mount a write in campaign against Trott. While that might be a quixotic mission, it certainly fits in Bentivolio's beyond eccentric personality. He is, afterall, a reindeer farmer who once testified in a deposition that he sometimes is unsure if he really is Santa Claus or not.
But that write in campaign could upset Trott's plans to take what should be a comfortable Republican seat. Fox News is reporting Trott could lose the election to McKenzie.
