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
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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Despite the fact that none of the general election results were close, the campaigns for Michigan's 14 congressional seats drew about $40.0 million, according to a review of campaign finance disclosures. About 17 percent of that total — $7 million — came from so-called “independent” spenders that can pay for unlimited amounts of TV ads and mailers to try to influence elections.
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posted on 04/05/2017
The 2016 races for Michigan's highest court weren't competitive. Still, they attracted millions of dollars — much of it coming from undisclosed sources, as is the tradition in Michigan — with the winning side outspending the losing side by an estimated margin of 34 to one. “I was telling people it was 20 to one,” one of the losing candidates said. “I wanted to be conservative. And I guess I was.”
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posted on 03/16/2017
Michigan’s 2016 elections saw millions of dollars in political spending from groups whose donors remain hidden from public view. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network analyzed TV ad-tracking data and reviewed thousands of pages of disclosures on ad purchases to determine at least $6 million was spent on political TV ads in 2016 by groups whose donors didn’t have to be disclosed.
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posted on 02/27/2017
Twenty of Michigan’s top independent spenders, which can accept unlimited contributions and expend unlimited amounts in elections, raised $9.9 million over the last two years. About half of that total can be traced to 12 sources.
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posted on 12/13/2016
A nonprofit organization linked to Gov. Rick Snyder raised $2.24 million from anonymous donors in 2015, its first year of existence, according to a new federal tax filing. That’s more than the NERD Fund, a previous nonprofit organization connected to Snyder’s administration, raised over the three years it was active.
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posted on 11/23/2016
A nonprofit that incorporated in September has spent large sums in the last weeks to tell voters in Detroit that a ballot proposal there is “awful.” But because of the way the group is wording its attacks, it can protect the identities of its donors.
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posted on 11/08/2016
For every $1 that’s gone to support the two Democratic nominees for the Michigan Supreme Court, the two Republican nominees have had about $34 in support. According to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network’s analysis of fundraising records and broadcast TV data, the GOP nominees for the state’s high court have seen more than $2.9 million in support for their campaigns with just days remaining before Tuesday’s election.
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posted on 11/03/2016
In two of Michigan’s most competitive state House races, mystery mailers have emerged touting the conservative credentials of Libertarian candidates. The mystery comes in the fact that the Libertarian candidates mentioned in the mailers have no idea who sent the pieces out.
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posted on 10/31/2016
Michigan House candidates and their supporters have now aired an estimated $1.37 million in broadcast TV ads this fall, according to an analysis of Kantar Media ad-tracking data and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings. That total — $1.37 million — is across 11 State House districts and includes ads that have run in the general election campaign through Monday, Oct. 24.
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posted on 10/26/2016
With little-to-no information available to the public about who's behind them, two secretive funds have been using robocalls to attack Democratic candidates in key Michigan House districts.
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posted on 10/25/2016
A nonprofit funded by secret donors and connected to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder ran about $266,309 in TV ads this fall touting Snyder’s record and six Republican State House candidates.
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posted on 10/14/2016
In the days before Tuesday's election, two groups attacked at least seven Republican candidates across five different House districts, potentially impacting one-fifth of the races for open seats currently held by the House GOP. The late attacks tended to focus on candidates who were the more conservative options in competitive races and who were already at a fundraising disadvantage. Read our story and see the attacks by following the links below.
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posted on 08/05/2016
Alleging that one candidate thinks gun violence is a game and that another's ideas would "handcuff" police officers, dark money-funded mailers have been trying to sway Michigan voters in the days leading up to Tuesday's primary election. The attacks have come from nonprofit organizations, and some have falsely stated they were sent by previously dissolved PACs. And Michigan law allows the donors behind the mailers to remain secret. Read more by following the link below.
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posted on 08/01/2016
There will be State House candidates on many ballots across Michigan Tuesday who want to strengthen transparency laws and who believe the Legislature should do something about the role of money in politics. That’s according to the responses to questionnaires the Michigan Campaign Finance Network sent out in May to 225 State House candidates. To read more about their responses, follow the links below.
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posted on 07/29/2016
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