Ex-Presidential Hopeful McCotter Faces Opposition in Redrawn District

Abandoning an unlikely bid for the 2012 presidential nomination, Livonia Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter may be facing another difficult race to retain his seat in Congress under redrawn boundaries in his 11th Congressional District, opposition said Friday.

McCotter, who announced his presidential run in July, dropped out of the race Thursday. Chris Buck, New Hampshire state director for the McCotter campaign,  that McCotter wasn't included in national polls, which gave him no way to get into the Republican debates.

State Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake) officially announced his candidacy for the 11th District Congressional seat Saturday during the Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island.

"The only difference it makes is that I know who my opponent is going to be," Kowall said Friday while heading to Mackinac.

Kowall, who previously served as a state representative and White Lake Township supervisor, said changes made to the 11th District boundaries this year and McCotter's subsequent presidential bid influenced his decision to run for Congress. 

"I think it really levels the playing field," Kowall said of the reapportionment. "The majority of his district has changed dramatically."

Under the new boundaries, the 11th Congressional District spans from Canton Township to the southeast and north to Highland Township to include a large block of northwest Oakland County, including Novi, White Lake and Waterford, and extending east to include Auburn Hills, Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham and part of Clawson.

Kowall, a longtime White Lake resident, said he feels he's more in touch with the district's voters than his Wayne County opponent.

"I think Troy is a unique community, as is Oakland County compared to Wayne County," Kowall said. "Oakland County has been my home almost my entire life. I think I have a little better idea of what the pulse of the community is."

Frank Houston, chair of the Oakland County Democratic Party, said Kowall's decision to run against McCotter might illustrate a lack of confidence in the incumbent and his representation of the district. Likewise, he said the new boundaries may present challenges for McCotter, as well as Kowall.

"It's a far more diverse community than what it was before, and with that it will have more diverse issues," Houston said. "Someone who does well in Livonia may not do well in Troy."

With the Republican stage seemingly set in the 11th Congressional District, Houston said he expects the Democratic Party to have a candidate announced by the end of the month. He said candidates who are focused on "getting people back to work" are likely to do well in the district.

"I think we will have a good candidate," he said.

Houston said he will be meeting with likely candidates over the next few days, but couldn't comment on who would emerge as the frontrunner.

"On the Democratic side, anyone who isn't already a household name is really going to have to work ... it's going to be hard for any candidate to run on a strictly partisan platform."