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. read more

posted on 06/17/2019

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. read more

posted on 03/11/2019

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. read more

posted on 08/22/2018

The campaigns of 50 percent of current state lawmakers have paid fees for failure to comply with the state’s campaign finance reporting requirements. The fundraising committees of current lawmakers have paid nearly $100,000 in penalties over the lawmakers’ careers,. read more

posted on 06/07/2017