Today, Michigan GOP Rep. Dan Benishek announced he will retire after three terms. Although Democrats will cheer the news, it's not clear that Benishek's retirement improves their prospect of picking up the seat, which takes in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula. After all, Benishek was a serial underperformer who would have been breaking self-imposed term limits to run in 2016. In 2012, while GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was winning the district 53 percent to 45 percent, Benishek's Tea Party reputation and poor visibility in the district hurt him and he barely won, 48.1 percent to 47.6 percent. In 2014, while most other Republicans were winning by a mile, Benishek defeated Democratic former Kalkaska County Sheriff Jerry Cannon with just 52 percent. In other words, Benishek was a GOP liability. Democrats have two formidable candidates running in their August 2016 primary: Cannon and state Democratic party chair Lon Johnson, whose wife Julianna Smoot was a top Obama campaign aide. But the relatively early timing of Benishek's announcement means Republicans will have plenty of time to field a strong
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