Benishek faces possible primary challenge in 2012

If the 2012 election were to happen tomorrow the one-time Tea Party favorite, Republican Dr. Dan Benishek, might have trouble holding on to the seat he took over from Democrat Bart Stupak in Michigan’s District 1.

Benishek, a small town doctor from the Western Upper Peninsula, campaigned as an outsider committed to shrinking government and reducing spending and his votes to extend the PATRIOT ACT and the debt ceiling have disappointed and angered many of the activists who helped propel him into office.

Conservative blogger Jen Kuznicki says that Benishek has opted to ignore his base.

“I believe he has boxed himself in with Boehner,” she wrote this week. “At this point, he would have to denounce his leadership, something he probably will not do, since the talking points he has used until now all come from the leadership. He and his ‘genius’ strategists may think it is a good thing to go along to get along, but that is not what Benishek was picked for.”

Benishek was catapulted onto the national political stage last spring when Stupak cast a pivotal vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As the only announced Republican challenger in the district, Benishek received immediate financial support from those who saw an opportunity to move the socially and fiscally conservative rural district into Republican control.

Benishek’s work as a doctor seemed to add credibility to his criticism of the federal health care reforms and with help from a burgeoning network of Tea Party groups in the district, and an endorsement from Sarah Palin, he achieved a 15-vote victory in what ended up as a six-way primary.

In a sign of the deep conservative streak in District 1, the National Rifle Association endorsed Benishek’s Democratic opponent Gary McDowell, a hay farmer and retired UPS driver from another small Upper Peninsula town, citing his demonstrated record of supporting gun rights while in office.

McDowell, an anti-abortion Democrat like Stupak, also earned the endorsement of Michigan Right to Life.

Yet these normally powerful endorsements were not enough to keep the district in Democratic hands in an election where all Democrats were tarred by association with Michigan’s outgoing Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm, who was widely blamed for the state’s sagging economy.

In November Benishek beat McDowell 52-41.

On election night he promised “to read legislation before voting on it, reduce taxes and the size of government, repeal ObamaCare, and reform government to bring it back in line with the Constitution.”

But Benishek began to sound less ambitious and more conciliatory shortly after taking office.

After voting to allow the government to continue PATRIOT ACT provisions that allow government to search business records and set up roving wiretaps without warrants he said:

“The events of September 11th and Fort Hood illustrate the need for increased national security. I believe that we need to take a complete and thorough look at the Patriot Act. The vote that took place on Tuesday was not a vote to extend the Patriot Act … I joined with a majority in my party to support this limited extension because I believe all three sections are necessary for law enforcement to ensure the safety of US citizens. I will continue to press for ongoing Congressional oversight and/or judicial review of all laws which affect our civil liberties.”

He then compounded what many of his Tea Party supporters view as a betrayal by voting for the compromise debt limit deal negotiated by President Obama and the Republican leadership of both chambers.

“There is plenty to dislike in this bill from all sides,” he said on Aug. 1, after he joined many Republicans in approving the deal, “but this compromise will put the brakes on America’s exploding debt problem.”

While claiming that the bill didn’t contained the spending cuts he wanted, Benishek nonetheless voted for the bill because, he said, it “prevents a national default and begins to move the country’s ship in the right direction. The bill contains dollar-for-dollar spending reductions and contains none of the job-killing tax increases the Administration promoted. Moreover, this measure continues the government’s commitment to Social Security and Medicaid beneficiaries.”

“He screwed up,” said Jason Gillman, a Republican Tea Party activist, blogger, and Grand Traverse County Commissioner who backed Benishek during the campaign.

“Saddling children with more debt and making it harder to get out by putting us in a downgraded position” is a serious problem, he said.

“The doctor is a good man but he has put himself in a position where people are going to primary him.”

Stephanie Jacobson of Cheboygan is a member of a local Tea Party group who worked as a registered dietician before deciding to stay home with her four children.

“I’d like to see a little more fight,” she said.

“I am very concerned about the borrowing of more money. I’m very concerned that the deal that was brokered didn’t go far enough” she said. “We were downgraded anyway.”

“I kind of feel that Dr. Benishek goes with whatever the Republicans tell him to do. I’m looking for someone who is willing to stand up to the party,” she said.

Tom Stillings of Keewadin is president of Elk River & Steel Company and competed with Benishek in the Republican primary.

“There’s a lot of buyer’s remorse out there,” he said. “People think he either forgot what he campaigned on or is being ineffective.”

Stillings echoed what many other conservative Tea Party supporters have said, that if Benishek doesn’t change his voting record he is likely to face a primary challenge from the right.

This report is part of collaboration with WNYC’s “It’s a Free Country” to cover the 25 most captivating congressional races from around the country.