Nancy Cassis lost last week’s primary election, but she is still in the running to be a member of U.S. Congress, for a few months at least.

Cassis, who lost her write-in bid against Republican Kerry Bentivolio by 66 percent in the Aug. 7 primary, confirmed that she intends to remain a candidate on the ballot for the Sept. 5 election, according to the National Journal.

"My name's on the ballot, yes," she said, noting "it's important to have a presence."

The affirmation didn’t sit well with Bentiviolo, of Milford, who has since picked up endorsements from Gov. Rick Snyder and other key members of the Michigan’s Republican Party. He noted that losing the primary election could prevent him from earning some seniority in Congress, should he win the November contest against Democrat Dr. Syed Taj of Canton.

“It's unfortunate, yet not surprising, that she has decided to do this,” he said in a statement. “Today, I call on Nancy Cassis to re-consider her decision to run so we can focus on taking the fight to the democrats and I ask our supporters to do the same."

Bentiviolo also took Cassis to task for insisting with continuing her efforts, despite statements to the otherwise on the July 13 WKAR-TV's broadcast of the "Off the Record" show. View her statement at the 19-minute mark in the video, above.

“Absolutely, I’m a fiscal conservative," she said in response to a question about dropping out of the special election if the Aug. 7 write-in campaign failed. "To put through the taxpayers of the state, to have a bill come out that would be $650,000. It’s ridiculous on the face of it.”

Snyder called for the special election last month to fulfill the remaining few months  of Thaddeus McCotter’s, term following the 11th District incumbent’s resignation. The implosion of McCotter’s re-election bid continued to unfold last week as Attorney General Bill Scheuette announced criminal charges against four staffers. 

Also running are Republicans Steve King, Kenneth Crider and Carolyn Cavanagh and Democrat David Curson. The primary would still occurr if Cassis backed out of the race.

Cassis' campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday, but Casis told the National Journal she intended to stay engaged in the race.

She also addressed the matter of her previous statements with the Journal, including one that she wouldn’t endorse Bentiviolo, who still faces Taj in the November election.

“At this point in time, I think my statement that I made in my concession speech says it all," Cassis said (She congratulated Bentivolio and wished him well). "As for an endorsement as such, no."

Related Stories:

• Bentivolio Wins Republican Race for 11th District
• Cassis Says She'll Take Cost of Special Election to Replace McCotter Into Consideration
• Michigan's 11th District Congressional Races: The Basic Facts