The Michigan legislature, with two-thirds majorities, sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the November ballot. It'd augment term limits and institute financial disclosure requirements, but with considerably more exceptions than what the original proponents had proposed.
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posted on 05/12/2022
It is an ambitious package of legislation that involved more than 70 stakeholders and years of negotiations. After passing the House with bipartisan majorities, it's sat in the committee Sen. Aric Nesbitt chairs for nearly a year without a hearing.
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posted on 04/19/2022
Key takeaway as U.S. House candidates submit campaign finance filings covering the first quarter of 2022.
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posted on 04/15/2022
Mail from anonymous organizations is being sent to Republicans who may help decide their party's nominee for attorney general. Some delegates haven’t enjoyed the appeals.
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posted on 03/30/2022
The cost of Michigan's state legislative elections have been increasing for years. But even this increase is unprecedented. Thank party spending and the outside money that inundated the state's few competitive districts.
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posted on 08/31/2021
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer raised more than $8 million in the first half of 2021. A big chunk of it came from wealthy donors who otherwise would've violated campaign finance limits.
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posted on 08/02/2021
While no races were as expensive as the most competitive in 2018, costs were were up.
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posted on 06/21/2021
After weeks of speculation, the Governor's office disclosed that a nonprofit used to fund her inauguration had mostly paid for a private flight to Florida in March. Her staff characterized the nonprofit as an administrative account, and despite pledging transparency, the picture offered of the nonprofit's finances is far from complete.
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posted on 05/14/2021
Michigan has no requirements for financial disclosures for anyone in the legislature or executive branch, and is one of just two states without any requirements for the legislature. Without them, it becomes much more difficult to determine if government officials have made self-serving decisions.
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posted on 05/04/2021
Amid pressure, special interests largely withheld contributions to the five U.S. Representatives from Michigan who took action to delay or block the certification of the November election.
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posted on 04/23/2021
More than $200 million was spent in the race between John James and Gary Peters, easily making in the most expensive single election in Michigan's history.
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posted on 03/03/2021
The Michigan Republican Party was roiled by accusations that money from a secretive account had been used to pay candidates to abandon their runs for office. Potential campaign finance violations aside, experts tell MCFN it may not be illegal.
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posted on 02/11/2021
A husband and wife duo held two of the highest-paying jobs as policy staff in the Michigan House. At the same time, their political consulting firm took in hundreds of thousands of dollars from members of the Republican caucus they helped oversee.
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posted on 12/30/2020
Nine districts attracted a total of more than $1 million in contributions — the most ever. In all but seven of the 110 districts the candidate with the most money won.
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posted on 12/30/2020
Vague FEC rules and a 2014 supreme court decision meant campaigns could use Michigan’s state parties to bypass contribution limits and spend unlimited amounts on political mail with campaigns' tailored messages.
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posted on 12/02/2020
Ads on broadcast television, radio and cable in Michigan, by themselves, eclipsed the total spending of the 2018 election.
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posted on 11/03/2020
Republicans have maintained a cash advantage heading into election day, despite Democratic candidates out-raising their GOP counterparts, in part through a new source of funding: small-dollar donations from outside Michigan.
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posted on 11/03/2020
At least $15 million will be spent advertising in Michigan's state House races, outpacing 2018 — both chambers included. Explore a district-by-district breakdown.
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posted on 10/30/2020
Outside groups have outspent than the candidates for both major parties as the ideological lean of the court hangs in the balance.
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posted on 10/28/2020
"Election season" or not, advertising spending in Michigan has increased explosively in the runup to in-person voting. And it’s not because Michiganders are generously contributing to their preferred candidates. Outside groups and dark money organizations are outspending campaigns two-to-one.
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posted on 10/21/2020
Talking points and footage left available by campaigns turns making political ads into paint-by-numbers for dark money groups.
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posted on 10/16/2020
More than $50 million from more than 40 outside groups paired with record spending on advertising is driving the race for U.S. Senate to be the most expensive Michigan has seen.
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posted on 10/01/2020
Spending records are already being shattered in the 2020 election with more than a month to the election, and a super PAC has emerged to support Democrats in key state house races.
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posted on 09/25/2020
While lobbyists' overall spending on food for state officials is less than half of what it was last year, the expensive meals that require disclosure are only down slightly.
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posted on 09/16/2020
This fall, Michigan Campaign Finance Network ans MLive are partnering to follow the money behind campaign mail around the state
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posted on 09/14/2020
Since the presidential primary in March, Michigan has seen an unprecedented blitz of traditional political advertising across. Far more is on the way.
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posted on 08/31/2020
Progressives are taking a cue from conservatives and founding ‘news’ sites like Courier Newsroom, which spends big money on election-year social media ads to benefit Democratic in swing districts such as U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly).
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posted on 08/31/2020
The finances that matter in tonight's House Primary, shown in three infographics.
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posted on 08/04/2020
The Committee To Recall Governor Gretchen Whitmer has withdrawn its ballot language and organizers have left with complaints its founder misspent committee money.
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posted on 08/03/2020
New disclosures reveal how the shutdown dropped donations to legislators. But people didn’t stop giving to candidates. Special interests did.
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posted on 07/31/2020
Despite a smaller presence in Lansing compared with other unions, since 2010 organizations representing law enforcement have given to 112 of the 147 legislators currently in office.
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posted on 07/06/2020
An array of out-of-state nonprofits, funded by some of the same organizations that capitalized on the Tea Party movement, are creating an ecosystem of alternative media online, delivering political reporting, grassroots organizing, advocacy and even satire to Michiganders through Facebook. Now they're harnessing resentment toward the state's stay-at-home order.
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posted on 05/15/2020
A single liberal super PAC, Priorities USA Action, is spending $17.3 million to run ads every week until the general election.
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posted on 05/10/2020
If Facebook in the week before Michigan's primary was any prelude to what voters can expect before November, dark money organizations could be flooding news feeds.
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posted on 03/18/2020
Bloomberg has spent about $6.6 million in the last eight weeks running ads. In 2020 they have represented 79% of all political advertisements on air.
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posted on 01/17/2020
The MCFN board of directors is pleased to announce Simon D. Schuster has been selected as MCFN's new executive director.
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posted on 11/25/2019
A statewide advertising campaign that promotes Enbridge’s oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac uses the image of a government scientist who found that 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline would be at risk if the line ruptures. The agency the scientist works for says it didn't give permission for Enbridge to use the image in the ad campaign.
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posted on 09/30/2019
Some Michigan lawmakers have been headlining fundraisers where donors are specifically asked to make “corporate contributions only," according to invitations obtained by MCFN. It's a request that could help ensure the sources of money and the groups collecting it remain secret.
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posted on 09/24/2019
So far in 2019, a small group of influential state lawmakers has been consuming larger than normal amounts of free food and drink purchased by lobbyists. Those lobbyists spent more than $4,000 on meals and beverages for three individual lawmakers over the first seven months of 2019, according to new disclosures.
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posted on 09/11/2019
Over the last decade alone, Michigan has seen a striking shift on the subject of abortion: The number of Right to Life-backed Democrats running for state office has plummeted; and the groups funding the fight are providing less information about where their money is coming from.
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posted on 09/09/2019
A company that owns a controversial oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac was one of the sponsors of a recent gathering of county officeholders from across Michigan. At the event, the officeholders voted to take a policy position in favor of the pipeline, a pipeline Michigan's attorney general is trying to shut down.
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posted on 09/06/2019
Lobbyist spending in Michigan is on a record pace in 2019. Lobbyists reported spending $23.2 million over the first seven months of 2019, a 6-percent increase over the previous high for the same period in past years, according to disclosures. The spending came as a new class of lawmakers took office and the Legislature overhauled the state's auto insurance system.
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posted on 09/05/2019
A majority of Michigan's 83 counties have sued drug distributors and manufacturers over their alleged role in the opioid epidemic. However, one of the companies named in the suits registered to lobby in Michigan this year and could soon score a victory in the Legislature.
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posted on 09/04/2019
About 66 percent of the money that Michigan’s 148 state lawmakers have reported raising for their campaigns so far this year has come from political action committees (PACs), fundraising committees connected to businesses, unions, politicians and other interest groups that aim to influence what happens in Lansing. Only about 28 percent has come directly from individual donors.
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posted on 08/22/2019
The campaigns of term-limited lawmakers have repeatedly disclosed making large purchases during the lawmakers' final months in office with no explanation of where the items ended up once the lawmakers departed, according to a new investigation by MCFN and Fox 2 Detroit.
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posted on 08/16/2019
Michigan's top 150 political action committees raised more money over the first seven months of 2019 than they did over the same period before the record 2018 election, according to new campaign finance disclosures. Increased fundraising by committees connected to state lawmakers helped spur the high-dollar total.
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posted on 08/05/2019
Ten state lawmakers have already raised at least $100,000 across their campaign committees and personal political action committees, according to a review of new fundraising disclosures. The contributions have tended to follow power as the top fundraisers have been the leaders of the Michigan House and Michigan Senate.
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posted on 07/29/2019
Michigan officeholders’ quiet use of accounts and organizations that can accept unlimited amounts of money from secret donors has become widespread in Lansing. A new report by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network found links between a majority of the 148 lawmakers serving last year and accounts or organizations that could raise money from sources known to the lawmaker but unknown to the public. Where does the money end up? That can be a mystery as well.
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posted on 07/22/2019
In 2017, the U.S. House member from Michigan who raised the most money from the beginning of April through the end of June collected $360,342. Over the same period in 2019, three of Michigan's U.S. House members raised more than that. Two doubled the total, raising more than $730,000 each.
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posted on 07/16/2019
Fundraising committees tied to nearly half of Michigan’s current state officeholders have had to pay financial penalties — called late filing fees — for failing to meet donor disclosure requirements, according to an analysis of campaign finance records. Current state officeholders’ campaigns and political action committees (PACs) have combined to pay penalties of at least $112,695 throughout the officeholders’ political careers.
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posted on 07/09/2019
Michigan is currently one of two states that don't require state officeholders to file any type of personal financial disclosure to reveal potential conflicts of interest. However, the state House is now considering whether to adopt a financial disclosure reporting system. MCFN examined how the proposal compares to what's already been happening in other states.
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posted on 06/20/2019
As new Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson pushes for better collection of $1.5 million in unpaid campaign finance reporting penalties, an analysis of the outstanding fees shows how difficult the effort for better enforcement under current state law may be. People behind some of the committees that potentially owe the most say there's no way their committees could pay.
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posted on 06/17/2019
Before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer decided to end the state's medical marijuana licensing board, an email from a former Senate majority leader referencing a conversation with the board's chair gained the attention of state officials. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network learned of the situation through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.
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posted on 06/05/2019
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce publicly weighed in on 28 bills or bill packages during the 2018 lame-duck session. The Legislature agreed with the Chamber on 24 of them. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer partnered to examine the group's influence.
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posted on 05/30/2019
In a single year, a self-described “lawyer-lobbyist” went from working on behalf of a company accused of poisoning groundwater to writing a law that could weaken Michigan’s standards for pollution cleanup. Citing attorney-client privilege, the lawyer won't disclose who paid him to work on the new law.
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posted on 05/29/2019
Groups entrenched in the fight over Michigan’s auto insurance laws combined to spend at least $4.5 million in support of current state officeholders over the last five years alone. Those same officeholders continue to debate this spring what the state’s auto insurance system should look like going forward.
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posted on 05/17/2019
Michigan’s 2018 election was the most expensive in state history. As voters chose a new governor, picked candidates for every seat in the state Legislature and decided two competitive U.S. House races, money poured in from outside groups, and campaigns raised record amounts.
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posted on 05/09/2019
In the early 1980s, dozens of interest groups rose up to fight new regulations for lobbyists in Michigan. The fight led to a court ruling that came down 36 years ago this month. The ruling protected the main provisions in the state's lobby law, the framework of which is still in place today.
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posted on 05/03/2019
Over the first months of 2019, the 150 top political action committees in Michigan reported raising a combined total of $8.1 million, an increase over the same time period before the 2018 election. Michigan’s four caucus committees, which spend money on races for the state Legislature, were the primary forces behind the fundraising jump, disclosures show.
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posted on 04/30/2019
Ten state lawmakers raised more than $30,000 through their own political action committees over the first months of 2019, according to new campaign finance disclosures. Individual contributors gave as much as $40,000 to the leadership PACs, a growing form of fundraising in Michigan.
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posted on 04/30/2019
Elected state officeholders who served in 2018 disclosed having at least 774 fundraisers during the year, according to an analysis of hundreds of campaign finance disclosures. The most popular places to raise money were all within walking distance of the Capitol, and the wide majority of the most popular days for fundraisers were days the Legislature was also in session.
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posted on 04/25/2019
After the most expensive U.S. House races in Michigan history in 2018, the winners have already set out on a fast fundraising pace for 2020. On average, the 14 lawmakers’ campaigns brought in about $36,262 per day over the first three months of the year, according to the disclosures.
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posted on 04/16/2019
Michigan’s 2018 race for the Supreme Court was defined by what it lacked: It did not see large, under-the-radar spending by groups acting outside of the candidates’ campaigns. That type of spending has been a staple of Supreme Court races in the state for nearly two decades.
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posted on 04/11/2019
Democrat Debbie Stabenow won re-election to the U.S. Senate in a race that attracted about $40 million overall, according to an analysis of independent spending reports and candidate fundraising disclosures. The total may seem like a large one, but it isn't when compared to other competitive U.S. Senate contests in the year 2018.
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posted on 04/11/2019
As lobbyists for the casino industry increased their spending in Lansing, state lawmakers considered significant changes to Michigan's gaming laws. In the last four months alone, there have late-night votes on a bill to ease regulations covering casinos, vetoes by the governor and undisclosed trips to New Orleans for a gaming conference.
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posted on 04/04/2019
Michigan's 2018 races for the state House attracted about $27.6 million, according to MCFN's analysis. It was a record total that was achieved despite the fact the races shared 2018 ballots with expensive campaigns for the state Senate and governor. The most expensive individual 2018 House race cost about $1.5 million, according to the analysis.
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posted on 03/28/2019
At $34.5 million, Michigan's 2018 races for the state Senate attracted more money than they ever had before. New contribution limits and increased competition helped drive up the price tag. But there was also more than $4 million in spending by groups that didn't disclose their donors but occasionally used images of snakes and swamp monsters to attack candidates.
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posted on 03/21/2019
A group of state lawmakers has been quietly working to do away with Michigan's 21-year-old ban on state-level campaign contributions by individuals with financial ties to the three Detroit casinos. While supporters of the ban said it was meant to prevent corruption in a highly regulated industry, the lawmakers that want to lift the ban believe it went too far.
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posted on 03/12/2019
Michigan’s 2018 race for governor attracted about $93.4 million, and it spurred record spending by groups that can accept unlimited contributions while operating outside of the candidates’ campaigns. Both outcomes point to larger trends: more money in races; and more money coming from spenders that are allegedly “independent” of the candidates.
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posted on 03/11/2019
Michigan's 2018 race for attorney general was the closest contest at the top of the ballot and it attracted a record amount of money for an attorney general contest in Michigan. Likewise, it also saw a record amount of spending by groups acting outside of the candidates' campaigns.
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posted on 03/11/2019
Michigan's 2018 race for secretary of state attracted $3.6 million, according to campaign finance disclosures. About 26 percent of the money came from a national group that spent heavily to benefit Democratic candidate Jocelyn Benson. Michigan previously hadn't seen such heavy spending by an out-of-state group in a race for secretary of state.
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posted on 03/11/2019
For years, party-connected organizations in Michigan have used legal loopholes to take millions of dollars from undisclosed sources to fund TV ads and mailers that benefit candidates in competitive races, according to a joint investigation by The Detroit News and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. The strategy continued in 2018.
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posted on 03/07/2019
Registered lobbyists disclosed buying at least $1,000 in food and drink for 27 different state lawmakers in 2018, according to an analysis of new disclosures. Among the four lawmakers who received the most free food and drink were the incoming speaker of the House and the incoming chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
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posted on 02/28/2019
As state lawmakers sent nearly 400 bills to then-Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk in the closing weeks of the year, lobbyists upped their efforts in Lansing to influence policy decisions, helping to make 2018 a record year for lobbyist spending, according to state disclosures. Overall, lobbyists reported spending $40.3 million in 2018.
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posted on 02/27/2019
Forty Michigan families and individuals spent a combined $56.5 million on political contributions from the start of 2017 through the end of 2018, according to a new analysis of state and national campaign finance disclosures. Fourteen families or individuals from Michigan spent more than $1 million each, the analysis also found.
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posted on 02/21/2019
Members of West Michigan's DeVos family combined to make about $11.3 million in political contributions from the start of 2017 to the end of 2018. The family spent more money on politics ahead of the 2018 election than any other Michigan family, according to an analysis of state and national fundraising disclosures by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
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posted on 02/21/2019
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s transition organization voluntarily released a list of inauguration sponsors. The list included 182 groups or individuals who fell into sponsorship categories ranging from $100,000 to $1,000. Some of the groups on the list previously supported Whitmer’s opponent in the election, and many of them will be working with state government on upcoming policy decisions.
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posted on 02/11/2019
Over 2017 and 2018, the state's largest 150 political action committees smashed their past fundraising record for a two-year election cycle. The PACs combined to raise $97 million, which is up 42 percent over the previous high total. Super PACs and PACs connected to individual officeholders had a lot to do with why the 2017-2018 total broke the record.
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posted on 02/08/2019
Michigan considered wide-ranging ballot proposal campaigns in 2017 and 2018, covering topics like redistricting, marijuana and wage requirements. According to an analysis, the wide majority of the money the campaigns and their opponents raised came from nonprofits that didn't have to report their own donors.
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posted on 01/31/2019
Ten political action committees (PACs) combined to spend $17.1 million on Michigan’s U.S. House elections last year, according to a new review of campaign finance disclosures. The 10 PACs' spending amounts to about 20 percent of the $80 million the races attracted overall.
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posted on 01/24/2019
Thanks in part to two extremely expensive races, the primary and general election contests for Michigan’s 14 seats in the U.S. House attracted about $80 million, according to candidate fundraising disclosures, independent-spending reports by groups and an analysis of TV advertising data from Kantar Media/CMAG. The 2018 total is double what the same races attracted in 2016: $40 million.
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posted on 01/22/2019
If giving large campaign checks to state lawmakers boosts a group’s influence in Lansing, there are some groups that stand to have a lot of power in the new legislative session. Five interest groups currently rank among the top 10 contributors to at least one-third of the 2019-2020 Michigan Legislature, according to campaign finance disclosures.
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posted on 01/15/2019
While candidates were responsible for the wide majority of positive campaign ads that ran last fall, outside groups, like nonprofits and super PACs, were behind the wide majority of negative campaign ads, according to a new analysis of more than 60,000 broadcast ad spots that ran in state races before the November election.
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posted on 01/09/2019
Political action committees connected to groups backing five bills to change environmental policies in lame duck have spent $3.01 million in support of current lawmakers and their caucuses over the last five years, according to an analysis of fundraising disclosures and meeting minutes.
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posted on 12/21/2018
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer and Republican Bill Schuette raised more than $23 million for their campaigns for governor. And disclosures show that employees of Michigan’s largest companies and some of the state’s largest interest groups helped foot the bill.
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posted on 12/12/2018
Compared to other states, Michigan would have a one-of-a-kind system for deciding who gets to enforce and administer campaign finance laws under bills advancing in the Legislature’s lame-duck session. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network examined the process of the 49 other states to see how the Michigan proposal compares.
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posted on 12/10/2018
When it comes to the general election race for Michigan governor, direct spending by PACs, super PACs, nonprofits and other political groups dwarfed spending by the candidates' campaigns. The numbers point to a greater trend in campaign finance, and they aren't final yet. The disparity will likely grow as more disclosures become available.
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posted on 12/10/2018
The business groups asking state lawmakers to weaken voter-initiated laws increasing the minimum wage and requiring paid sick leave have been heavy financial supporters of lawmakers’ campaigns.
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posted on 12/04/2018
Introduced two days after the election in the lame duck session, Senate Bill 1176 would create a new law called the “Personal Privacy Protection Act.” The act would ban any government agency, state or local, from requiring nonprofit organizations to disclose information about their financial supporters. That includes nonprofit organizations involved in campaigns.
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posted on 11/28/2018
Candidates for the Michigan House and Senate with the most financial support didn't win every race this year, but they won a lot of them. According to a new analysis, candidates with a financial advantage won 89.2 percent of the races for the Michigan Legislature. The 2018 percentage is very close to the percentage for 2016.
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posted on 11/20/2018
The battle for control of the Michigan Senate saw an influx of spending by nonprofit organizations that don't have to disclose their donors. The groups funded mailers, Facebook ads and even door-to-door campaigns. They also spent heavily on negative TV ads about candidates in the weeks before the election.
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posted on 11/16/2018
Michigan's 2018 elections have become the most expensive in state history. MCFN has now tracked about $291 million in the 2018 races, and the total is far from complete. The total will increase as more fundraising and spending disclosures become available in the next months. The 2018 elections break a record that's stood since 2012.
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posted on 11/13/2018
The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, attorney general and secretary of state have been busy this fall describing what makes them different from their opponents. But these political rivals have some similarities when it comes to their financial supporters.
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posted on 11/06/2018
This year’s campaign for control of the Michigan Senate is shaping up to be an expensive one. While the numbers aren’t final and will only go up, already 10 of the 38 Senate races have crossed the $1-million mark, according to a new analysis of campaign finance disclosures, including late contributions reported over the weekend. That's a Michigan record for the number of $1-million Senate races in an election.
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posted on 11/05/2018
PACs, which are usually connected to interest groups, political causes or public officeholders, raise money to support candidates or to directly influence voters through advertisements or other campaign efforts. The fact that they’ve raised a record amount of money since the start of 2017 is another sign that Michigan’s 2018 election will be one of the most expensive in state history.
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posted on 10/31/2018
New campaign finance disclosures show that Michigan's candidates for governor raised more than $6 million over the last two months. But outside groups, including a handful of super PACs, are pouring millions more into the race as Election Day nears. When you include spending in the primary, the 2018 race for governor has drawn at least $75 million.
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posted on 10/26/2018
Voters Not Politicians, the ballot committee hoping to change how Michigan draws its legislative district lines, took in nearly $14 million over the past three months, swamping the group that is opposed to the ballot measure. Ballot proposal campaigns filed new reports on their fundraising ahead of Election Day.
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posted on 10/26/2018
The four groups that raise money on behalf of the House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans have raised a record amount of money. Some of the funds have come from donors giving maximum contributions of $40,000 per year. Now, the groups are spending millions on key races for seats in the Legislature.
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posted on 10/26/2018
Nearly $9 million in TV ads about candidates for the Michigan Legislature have already aired this fall or will air in the coming days, according to an analysis of ad-tracking data and public records. The ads are a large part of the expensive fight to decide which party will control the House and Senate.
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posted on 10/25/2018
Michigan's 2018 race for governor will be one of the most expensive in state history. Much of the money is coming from super PACs and nonprofit organizations that are working outside of the candidates' campaigns. Later this week, the candidates and involved PACs will have to file new disclosures with the state about their involvement.
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posted on 10/22/2018
New fundraising disclosures show that Michigan's 2018 U.S. House races are attracting more money than they did before past elections. Among the 2018 races is a contest in the 8th Congressional District, which has already drawn about $16.5 million, a record amount for a U.S. House race in Michigan.
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posted on 10/16/2018
The campaign for majorities in the Michigan House and Senate is playing out on TV screens across the state this fall. The ads will intensify as Election Day nears. But already, MCFN has tracked more than $4 million in broadcast and cable TV ads focused on candidates for the Legislature. A majority of the money has gone to ads aired in races in Southeast Michigan.
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posted on 10/12/2018
Michigan's 2018 races for the U.S. House are on pace to attract much more campaign money than those in recent years. Two of the 14 races are already shaping up to be the most expensive U.S. House contests Michigan has seen since lawmakers redrew congressional district lines in 2011.
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posted on 10/04/2018
Before Republican lawmakers introduced bills in September to support picking a future president through the national popular vote, many of them attended seminars about the topic in vacation spots, like Hawaii and Puerto Rico. More than 20 lawmakers participated in the conferences with some receiving free air travel and hotel stays.
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posted on 10/01/2018
According to new data submitted to the Secretary of State, lobbyists reported spending $21.6 million to influence state government over the first seven months of 2018. It’s a total that falls just shy of the record pace for lobbyist spending set last year when lobbyists disclosed spending $21.8 million over the first seven months.
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posted on 09/21/2018
State lobbyists reported spending $428,533 on food and drink purchases over the first seven months of 2018. While it's impossible to track which officeholders individually benefited from all of those free meals, disclosures show that at least 16 state lawmakers received more than $1,000 in free food and beverages.
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posted on 09/18/2018
In 2014, the last time all 38 seats in the Michigan Senate were on the ballot, there were three primary races where the candidates’ campaigns combined to spend more than $400,000. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network labeled those totals "unusually high." In 2018, a series of Senate primaries easily surpassed the $500,000 mark.
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posted on 09/14/2018
Michigan's 2018 race for governor will likely be one of the most expensive in state history. As of this week, the race has attracted about $50 million, according to a new analysis from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. The candidates' campaigns have raised most of the money, but outside groups are starting to play a larger role.
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posted on 09/07/2018
Two times each year, groups that want to influence state government through lobbying have to file reports on their spending. But according to lobbying contracts obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, state law has allowed many groups to disclose only a portion of the amount they're paying lobbying firms.
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posted on 09/04/2018
The general election race for Michigan governor is just getting started. But already, an estimated $1.6 million in broadcast TV ads have aired since the primary. National groups are driving the ad spending. In this story, MCFN examines who's behind the ads.
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posted on 09/04/2018
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network examined state fundraising disclosures, federal fundraising disclosures and reports that some groups file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to determine which Michigan-connected political donors have been giving the most since the start of 2017.
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posted on 08/22/2018
This fall, Michigan voters will pick a new attorney general and secretary of state. They’ll also fill two seats on the state’s highest court. Candidates applying for the jobs have already raised about $5.4 million.
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posted on 08/22/2018
While there are limits on what donors can give directly to state officeholders' campaigns, those same officeholders can accept unlimited amounts of money through leadership PACs. Some of the state's highest ranking officials are receiving big contributions through their PACs and using the money to fund like-minded candidates. We track which donors have been contributing the most to lawmakers' PACs.
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posted on 08/14/2018
About $23.6 million in political advertisements aired on broadcast TV in Michigan before today’s primary election, according to an analysis of ad-tracking data from Kantar Media/CMAG and filings with the Federal Communications Commission. The wide majority of the ads focused on the race to become Michigan's next governor.
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posted on 08/07/2018
With an election that could reshape state government on the horizon, interest groups and officeholders are raising large amounts of money for political action committees, also known as PACs. According to MCFN's analysis, Michigan PACs are on a record fundraising pace with three months remaining before the general election.
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posted on 08/06/2018
While broadcast TV ads are usually rare in primary elections for the Michigan House and Senate, a nonprofit organization linked to a major Michigan utility has been airing TV ads promoting five candidates for the state Legislature. The ads are drawing criticism from opponents who are concerned about the groups behind the nonprofit and the general nature of the advertisements.
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posted on 08/01/2018
Michigan's 2018 race for governor has already attracted about $42 million. It's a total that's been reached with more than a week remaining before the Aug. 7 primary election and with an entire general election campaign yet to waged.
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posted on 07/27/2018
Political action committees, super PACs and nonprofit organizations that want to sway Michiganders' votes for governor have already spent about $8.9 million, according to a new analysis from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. That number will likely rise in the final 12 days before the Aug. 7 primary.
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posted on 07/26/2018
A state senator introduced a bill that could have benefited a company he once worked for. In Michigan, unlike other states, such can remain secret unless state lawmakers decide to run for higher office or they choose to voluntarily disclose information about their personal finances.
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posted on 07/26/2018
According to new fundraising disclosures that were due on Sunday, campaigns for Michigan’s 14 seats in the U.S. House had already drawn $30 million as of June 30, 2018. That’s more than Michigan’s U.S. House races had attracted at the same point before the 2014 and 2016 elections.
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posted on 07/17/2018
As a deadline looms for Gov. Snyder to decide the future of a pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, he has touted efforts to weigh the issue independently. But his administration has given Enbridge avenues to influence the debate. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network and Bridge Magazine have examined thousands of internal documents, investigating potential conflicts of interest in the state's handling of Line 5.
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posted on 07/11/2018
Michigan candidates and groups that want to influence their races have now aired an estimated $8.3 million in broadcast TV ads in 2018, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network's analysis of Federal Communications Commission filings and Kantar Media/CMAG ad-tracking data.
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posted on 07/09/2018
The three major-party candidates in Michigan's 2018 U.S. Senate race combined to raise $20.5 million by the end of March, according to campaign finance disclosures. One of the candidates is an incumbent with a large fundraising lead. One is self-financing his campaign. And the third is receiving heavy support from some of Michigan's top donors.
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posted on 07/09/2018
A new joint investigation by Fox 2 Detroit and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network has found that members of the powerful Moroun family and companies run by the family spent more money than anyone else on races for the Detroit City Council last year. Much of the money moved through three Super PACs and wasn't easy to track until after the election.
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posted on 06/27/2018
When state lawmakers voted last week to repeal Michigan’s prevailing wage, the wide majority of them voted the way their fundraising reports suggested they would. The votes came after a petition-gathering campaign and a lengthy fight that involved some of the state's most active interest groups.
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posted on 06/15/2018
In Michigan, when legal fights over legislative redistricting go to the state's high court, justices often have to rule on cases in which their political benefactors have strong opinions. A 2018 case about a ballot proposal to institute an independent redistricting commission could be the latest chapter in a story that has a long history.
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posted on 06/08/2018
As of Monday, June 4, Michigan voters had viewed an estimated $4.45 million in political ads on broadcast TV in 2018, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network’s analysis of Kantar Media/CMAG ad-tracking data and Federal Communications Commission filings.
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posted on 06/06/2018
A little over a year after the Michigan Senate moved its offices into a new building, there are days when senators are just an elevator ride away from private parties offering free food and drink, according to invitations they’ve received.
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posted on 05/25/2018
With all 148 seats in the state Legislature on the ballot in 2018, donors are investing heavily in the Republicans who could lead the House and Senate next year if the GOP maintains control. Meanwhile, Democratic candidates for leadership jobs have fallen well behind their GOP counterparts in PAC fundraising.
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posted on 05/22/2018
Nonprofit organizations have already been running advertisements promoting two state Senate candidates. The candidates' opponents say the ads are a response to policy stances they've taken. One of the opponents said, “If you aren’t willing to go with what they want, then they are willing to spend what it takes to defeat you."
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posted on 05/10/2018
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network estimates that there’s been at least $1.01 million in spending by groups that don’t have to disclose their donors as of May 7. The spending includes ads run on broadcast TV, on cable TV and on some radio stations across Michigan.
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posted on 05/10/2018
As of April 20 — 200 days before the general election — the top 150 political action committees in Michigan had collected $34.5 million, according to an analysis of new campaign finance disclosures. That total is a record for this point before a statewide election.
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posted on 05/04/2018
Because of large blind spots in Michigan law, state officeholders can go on trips funded by interest groups and easily avoid public detection. Multiple sources say trips funded by groups may happen more often than you would expect, and the same blind spots that exist in Michigan don't exist in some neighboring states or at the federal level.
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posted on 04/30/2018
The four committees that raise money on behalf of the House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats reported having $10.0 million available as of April 20, according to new campaign finance disclosures. That total is a record, and it's millions of dollars above where they were at the same point in 2014.
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posted on 04/27/2018
The eight most active ballot proposal campaigns that are working to change Michigan law in 2018 have already combined to raise $12.3 million, according to new disclosures. The majority of their financial support has come from a small number of organizations and their affiliates.
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posted on 04/27/2018
Less than eight months after Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law establishing new standards for how closely candidates can work with “independent” spenders looking to sway voters, multiple PACs with connections to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley have bought ad time to boost his campaign for governor.
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posted on 04/20/2018
The men and women who want to represent Michigan in the U.S. House have already raised about $22 million for their 2018 campaigns, according to new campaign finance disclosures. In most of the state's battleground districts, the candidates’ total fundraising hauls are higher so far in 2018 than they were at the same point in 2016.
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posted on 04/17/2018
Democrats across Michigan will meet inside Detroit’s Cobo Center on Sunday. Their official duty will be to endorse party candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and Michigan Supreme Court. However, political insiders say the event could also be a bellwether for a possible power shift within a changing Democratic Party.
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posted on 04/12/2018
Precinct delegates help set the Michigan Republican Party's future, and the quiet fight to decide who gets to be one of them in 2018 is playing out in small meetings in counties across the state. GOP candidates for secretary of state and attorney general are already out working for support among delegates. Tea party groups want to increase their own numbers. And if the past is any indication, others will try to sway the process as well.
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posted on 04/12/2018
Contributions from political action committees – also known as PACs – accounted for 54 percent of the total amount of money accepted by state lawmakers’ campaigns in 2017, according to a Spartan Newsroom analysis of Michigan campaign finance records. Even though 2017 was a non-election year, Michigan lawmakers raised nearly $8 million from all sources – individuals, parties, political action committees – to help them eventually run for re-election.
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posted on 04/02/2018
An estimated $1.7 million in political ads had aired on broadcast TV stations in Michigan as of Monday, March 26, according to an analysis of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings and of Kantar Media/CMAG ad-tracking data. The total doesn’t include ads airing on cable TV. There have been many of those as well.
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posted on 03/29/2018
Michigan lawmakers and other state officials reported having 601 fundraisers during 2017, a significant increase compared with previous years, according to a review of campaign finance disclosures. Nearly half of the events took place in downtown Lansing within walking distance of the Capitol on days the Legislature was in session.
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posted on 03/26/2018
Leadership PACs are becoming a more powerful player in Michigan politics. It's a trend that gives donors the ability to make unlimited contributions to a wider array of elected officials and that gives lawmakers who can attract donors the ability to wield more influence.
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posted on 03/16/2018
Lobbyists reported spending $821,640 purchasing food and drink in 2017. According to new disclosures, 30 different lawmakers benefited from at least $1,000 in free food and drink last year. Three of them crossed the $3,000 mark.
Lobbyists’ food bill for 2017 is the second highest they have posted for a single year, losing out only to 2015.
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posted on 03/02/2018
Lobbyists disclosed spending $39.4 million trying to influence state government in 2017. It’s the second highest total Michigan lobbyists have reported spending in a single year, according to state filings. The record spending total came one year ago in 2016 when lobbyists reported spending $39.9 million.
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posted on 03/02/2018
Many of the men and women who sit on the boards that oversee Michigan’s public universities have made names for themselves in business or politics. Many also happen to be generous campaign donors.
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posted on 02/27/2018
The top 150 PACs in Michigan reported raising $24.3 million in 2017, a record amount for an off-year leading into a statewide election year. In 2018, voters will choose a new governor, a new attorney general, a new secretary of state and candidates to fill all 148 seats in the state Legislature.
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posted on 02/19/2018
According to new campaign finance disclosures, Michigan's U.S. House candidates have already collected about $14.7 million. Three candidates have individually raised more than $1 million each. Thirty candidates have raised more than $100,000 each.
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posted on 02/13/2018
The November election may be 10 months away, but some campaign donors have already made max contributions in support of their preferred candidates for governor. According to a review of fundraising disclosures, about 318 donors contributed the maximum amount allowed to at least one candidate for Michigan governor by the end of 2017.
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posted on 02/07/2018
If the early numbers are any indication, you can expect some expensive races for the Michigan Senate in 2018 with many involving current members of the Michigan House. Two primary races between well-funded Republican candidates have already attracted more than $400,000 in campaign cash, according to campaign finance disclosures.
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posted on 02/07/2018
The four main groups that raise money to elect Michigan lawmakers have more cash available at the start of 2018 than they’ve ever had at the start of an election year. And it’s not even close. The House Democratic Fund, the House Republican Campaign Committee, the Senate Democratic Fund and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee raise money on behalf of the four legislative caucuses.
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posted on 01/31/2018
With Michigan’s redistricting process, wage laws and marijuana legalization hanging in the balance, the 2018 battle over ballot proposals is just getting started. But it’s already attracted more than $7 million in contributions, according to new campaign finance disclosures.
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posted on 01/31/2018
Later this year, Michigan voters will elect a new governor, a new attorney general, a new secretary of state and multiple new U.S. House members. They’ll also fill every seat in the state Legislature and pick a U.S. senator. The election will likely be among the most expensive in state history. Here are 10 graphs on trends to watch in 2018.
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posted on 01/23/2018
Lawmakers say lobbyists not only write proposed amendments to add to existing bills but they also present draft language that the lobbyists ask lawmakers to formally introduce as their own bills. But lawmakers also say the general involvement of lobbyists and interest groups makes for better legislation.
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posted on 01/18/2018
Making Government Accountable paid out $1.7 million in the election year, more than other Snyder-linked nonprofits reported spending in past years.
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posted on 01/18/2018
This fall, mayoral elections in three of Michigan’s largest cities saw at least some involvement from outside groups. In two of the cities, the groups apparently avoided disclosing their donors and showed up in the final weeks before the election, providing little time for their targets to respond.
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posted on 01/02/2018
In a city council race this fall, a Super PAC flexed its muscles. It formed on Oct. 4, 2017, about a month before the election. It went on to spend $32,823, supporting a candidate through digital advertisements and three rounds of mailings. The candidate won by 336 votes.
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posted on 12/15/2017
The race for an Upper Peninsula-based seat in the state House drew about $431,093 this fall with about half of the money coming from Michigan Republican Party. In the Nov. 7 special election, the state GOP was hoping to flip the Democratic-leaning 109th state House District, which includes the city of Marquette.
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posted on 12/15/2017
With the November 2018 election still about a year away, the 150 most active PACs in Michigan are on a record fundraising pace. They’ve reported raising $18.5 million this year through Oct 20, 2017.
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posted on 11/14/2017
The attorney general, the lieutenant governor, the leaders of the state House and state Senate and potential future leaders are among the Michigan officeholders who’ve seen the heaviest support from donors this year. Some of those donors’ individual contributions have reached as high as $75,000.
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posted on 11/07/2017
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is riding a wave of financial support into the final days of his race for a second term. Duggan’s campaign and Turnaround Detroit, a Super PAC that’s been running positive TV ads about Duggan, reported raising a combined $1.3 million from late August through Oct. 22.
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posted on 10/31/2017
Four groups that are consistently among the top campaign spenders in Michigan are sitting on a strikingly massive amount of money for this early in an election cycle. As of Oct. 20, 2017 — just over a year before the 2018 election — those four committees reported having a combined $6.48 million available in their accounts. That total is up millions of dollars compared to where they were at this point in past gubernatorial election cycles.
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posted on 10/31/2017
With a small group of large donors driving the numbers upward, three ballot campaigns to change Michigan law have each passed the $1-million mark. Three other campaigns have amassed more than $400,000 in support.
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posted on 10/26/2017
Candidates for Michigan governor combined to bring in $71,000 a day on average over the last three months. The primary election they’re collecting money for is still 10 months away, and their early fundraising efforts are out-pacing many of past candidates.
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posted on 10/26/2017
A new collaborative project by MLive Media Group and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network examines Michigan’s efforts to create rules for a developing medical marijuana industry that’s been valued at more than $800 million.
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posted on 10/25/2017
The political fight over gun laws in Michigan is less about big checks written to powerful officeholders and more about lobbying, candidate surveys and strategic messaging directed at voters in a handful of key districts with some of those messages coming from groups with secret donors.
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posted on 10/23/2017
A representative who may run for the Senate and two candidates who could square off in one of Michigan’s most competitive House districts are receiving heavy support from political donors, according to new campaign finance disclosures.
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posted on 10/17/2017
Political action committees and executives tied to groups or businesses that have previously taken a stance on plans to change Michigan's auto insurance system have given at least $704,795 to fundraising accounts tied members of the House and Senate insurance committees over the last five years. About 63 percent of the money, $448,530, came from those traditionally siding with proposals backed by the auto insurance industry.
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posted on 10/02/2017
A bill that could weaken Michigan’s long-standing campaign contributions limits has received the approval of Gov. Rick Snyder. The Michigan Senate voted 23-12 for Senate Bill 335 on Thursday. On Tuesday, the House voted 62-45 in favor it.
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posted on 09/20/2017
Michigan lobbyists reported spending $540,598 on food and drink purchases for public officeholders over the first seven months of 2017, according to new state disclosures. That total is the second highest ever posted for the first seven months of a year and isn't far from the record. Some state officeholders, including high-ranking lawmakers, have received a larger portion of the free food and drink from lobbyists than others.
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posted on 09/18/2017
Lobbyists reported spending a record amount trying to influence Michigan officeholders in 2016. Over the first seven months of 2017, they matched their record pace. From Jan. 1, 2017, through July 31, 2017, lobbyists reported spending a total of $21.8 million in Michigan, about the same total that they spent over the first seven months of 2016, $21.7 million.
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posted on 09/11/2017
As its chairman pushed for tax breaks to help spur a 52-story development in downtown Detroit, mortgage company Quicken Loans increased its efforts to develop relationships with Lansing lawmakers. According to new disclosures, Quicken Loans spent more on lobbying state government in the first seven months of 2017 — $159,475 — than it had spent in an entire year previously.
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posted on 09/11/2017
The lengthy legal battle between the leaders of a powerful Michigan law firm and one of its former lawyers is stirring new discussion in Lansing over the role of political contributions in the state’s judicial system, which has seen some of the most expensive judicial races in the country.
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posted on 08/31/2017
The top 150 PACs in Michigan have combined to raise $12.2 million so far in 2017, according to an analysis of new campaign finance disclosures. The total, which includes dollars raised as of July 20, is up about 11 percent over the same measure at the same point in the 2015-2016 election cycle.
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posted on 08/09/2017
The top 15 fundraisers serving in state government have combined to attract more than $4.4 million in contributions over the first seven months of 2017. Most of the money has gone to officials’ candidate committees, which collect funds for their own campaigns for offices. But the officials are also raising money for PACs, which help fund other campaigns, nonprofit organizations and administrative accounts.
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posted on 08/03/2017
Six statewide campaigns seeking to change Michigan law by gathering petition signatures have already combined to raise more than $2.7 million. A majority of that money continues to come from just a handful of sources.
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posted on 08/01/2017
While they’re still a year away from collecting official votes for governor, a field of potential candidates in Michigan has already amassed more than $7.5 million in campaign cash. Six candidates officially running to be the state’s next governor and two potential candidates reported in fundraising disclosures due today that combined, they had $7.5 million sitting in accounts on July 20.
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posted on 07/25/2017
The main fundraising committees of the House Republicans, the House Democrats, the Senate Republicans and the Senate Democrats combined to raise $3.1 million in 2017 as of July 20, according to campaign finance disclosures due today. Over the last decade, the four committees had previously never combined to raise more than $3 million as of July 20 in the year before the election year.
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posted on 07/25/2017
As a handful of ballot proposal campaigns work this summer to change Michigan law in 2018, the names of many individuals and businesses whose dollars ultimately helped fund the campaigns are hidden from public view.
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posted on 07/21/2017
Registered lobbyists have been frequent political donors in Michigan over the years, according to a new analysis of campaign finance disclosures. Since the start of 2012, five-and-a-half years ago, Michigan’s more than 1,300 registered lobbyists made $3.7 million in personal political contributions at the state level.
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posted on 07/18/2017
The average U.S. House member from Michigan raised $1.3 million for 2016’s election. With the 2018 version still 15 months away, some of the contenders are already on their way to that number. Over the weekend, candidates who’ve been raising money to run for the U.S. House next year had to turn in new fundraising disclosures.
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posted on 07/17/2017
Forty of Michigan's top campaign donors combined to give about $44 million in contributions at the state and federal levels last election cycle, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network's tracking. Eight families or individuals connected to Michigan gave more than $1 million each.
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posted on 06/19/2017
As state lawmakers weighed millions of dollars in new incentives for businesses bringing large development projects, some of those pushing hardest for the incentives opened their checkbooks to make political contributions.
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posted on 05/31/2017
If you’re a state lawmaker looking for a free meal, this week may be one of the premier weeks for you, according to the statistics. You’ll just have to head north.
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posted on 05/30/2017
With individual donations reaching as high as $100,000, political action committees tied to 25 top Michigan officeholders raised $799,522 over the first months of 2017. Traditionally, interest groups use PACs to raise money and then to make contributions to candidates they prefer. But state officeholders, seeking to advance their own influence within Lansing, also use them.
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posted on 05/11/2017
When it comes to changing Michigan law through ballot proposals, the early money appears to be on efforts to legalize marijuana. Two ballot committees focused on marijuana legalization have raised more money so far in 2017 than any other current ballot committee.
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posted on 05/11/2017
