Failed McCotter Presidential Bid Unlikely to Jeopardize US House Seat

U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter’s decision to run for president – and then end his campaign less than three months later – ought not to derail his ability to win a sixth term from Michigan’s 11th Congressional District in 2012 if history is any indication. Of the two dozen U.S. Representatives who ran for president over the last 100 years, dropped out, and then sought another term in the nation’s lower legislative chamber, all but one were successful in their reelection bids. The only ex-presidential candidate to fail was conservative firebrand Bob Dornan from California’s 46th CD in 1996. The nine-term Republican was defeated by less than 1,000 votes that November by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, who survived an election contest filed by Dornan (as well as a 1998 rematch).