Legislative candidates raised $20.9M through post-primary

Fundraising 8.3% ahead of 2006

Candidates for the Michigan Legislature raised $20.9 million and spent $14.5 million through the post-primary campaign reports. That fundraising total is up by 8.3 percent compared to 2006, the last time candidates for both the House and Senate faced the electorate. Summary statistics per chamber follow:

Senate

There are nine incumbents running and 29 open seats for the Michigan Senate in 2010. In the primaries there were 163 candidates, 49 of whom filed for reporting waivers (raised and spent less than $1,000). The 114 candidates who raised money have taken in $10,755,281 so far this election cycle (11/28/2006-8/23/2010), and spent $7,238,357. Those candidates’ post-primary campaign finance statements showed accumulated ending balances of $3,324,953 and outstanding debt of $2,578,572.

For the 60 primary winners who raised money:

Total amount raised: $7,997,584

Average amount raised: $133,293

Median amount raised: $115,750

Most raised by an individual: $456,929 – Roger Kahn (R), District 32

Most expended per primary vote: $19.00 – Tonya Scuitmaker (R), District 20

For the 52 primary losers who raised money:

Total amount raised: $2,757,696

Average amount raised: $53,033

Median amount raised: $30,983

Most raised by an individual: $425,905 – Lorence Wenke (R), District 20

Most expended per primary vote: $45.50 - Lorence Wenke (R), District 20; $45.43 - Mark Totten (D), District 20

The nine incumbents this cycle have raised an average of $249,924.

Thirteen candidates won their primary against an opponent who raised more money: Coleman Young (D) – District 1, Bert Johnson (D) – District 2, Patrick Colbeck (R) - District 7, Ken Larkin (R) – District 8, Jim Ayres (D) – District 11, Michael Peters (R) – District 14, Vincent Gregory (D) – District 14, John Hochstetler (R) – District 18, Rebekah Warren (D) – District 18, Tonya Schuitmaker (R) – District 20, Robert Jones (D) – District 20, Brian Calley (R) – District 33, Kevin Davis (D) - District 35. Brian Calley subsequently vacated his Senate campaign to run as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

More than 13 percent of all Senate primary election spending was in District 20, a total of $961,755.

Fundraising by Senate candidates so far this election cycle is up by 4.2 percent compared to the 2006 cycle, when there were 32 incumbents running and 82 candidates raised $10,323,744 through the post-primary reports.

House

There are 58 incumbents running and 52 open seats in the House in 2010. There were 96 contested primaries, 120 uncontested primaries and four districts in which Democrats did not field a candidate. There were 490 primary candidates, 111 of whom filed for a reporting waiver or failed to file campaign finance reports. The 379 candidates who did raise money had taken in $10,151,168 so far this election cycle (11/28/2006-8/23/2010) and spent $7,240,400 through the post-primary period. The candidates’ accumulated fund balances totaled $2,889,232 and their accumulated debt totaled $3,278,041.

For the 175 primary winners who raised money:

Total amount raised: $7,125,395

Average amount raised: $40,717

Median amount raised: $33,105

Most raised by an individual: $207,095 – Mark Ouimet (R), District 52

Most expended per primary vote: $42.33 – Rashida Tlaib (D), District 12

For the 191 primary losers who raised money:

Total amount raised: $3,025,773

Average amount raised: $15,842

Median amount raised: $10,076

Most raised by an individual: $143,306 – Mark Libants (R), District 100

Most expended per primary vote: $67.98 – Abu Mahfuz (D), District 5

The 58 incumbents this cycle have raised an average of $54,148.

Twenty-three candidates won competitive primaries against opponents who had raised more money: Janice DuMouchelle (R) – District 1, Maureen Stapleton (D) – District 4, Thomas Stallworth III (D) – District 8, Pat Somerville (R) – District 23, Jeff Farrington (R) – District 30, Dan Tollis (R) – District 31, Andrea LaFontaine (R) – District 32, Ken Goike (R) – District 33, Robert Murphy (D) – District 36, Jeff Irwin (D) – District 53, Richard Deitering (R) – District 54, Nancy Jenkins (R) – District 57, Earl Poleski (R) – District 64, Rick Outman (R) – District 70, Theresa Abed (D) – District 71, Ken Yonker (R) – District 72, Mary Brown (D) – District 79, Aric Nesbitt (R) – District 80, Ben Glardon (R) – District 85, Sarge Harvey (R) – District 95, Kevin Cotter (R) – District 99, Jon Bumstead (R) – District 100 and Greg MacMaster (R) – District 105.

Fundraising by House candidates so far this election cycle is up by 13.2 percent compared to the 2006 cycle, when there were 80 incumbents running and 283 candidates raised $8,975,521 through the post-primary reports. In 2008 there were 65 incumbents and 296 candidates raised $10,362,120 through the post-primary report, 2.1 percent more than this cycle.

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