Like their counterparts in other states, Michigan's Democratic candidates in this year's competitive congressional elections basically blew out their Republican rivals in terms of fundraising in the third quarter, led by a $31 million three-month haul by Abdul El-Sayed, the nominee for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.
If fundraising is any indication of enthusiasm headed into the midterm elections just over two weeks away, Democrats should be in very good shape.
Campaign finance reports for congressional candidates covering the three-month period ending Sept. 30 were due at midnight on Thursday, Oct. 15, and they showed good news for Democratic candidates in competitive races nationwide in a year when high fuel prices, an unpopular war and President
Donald Trump's low job approval ratings have Republicans fighting to maintain majority control of both chambers of Congress.
The race for U.S. Senate
In Michigan's much-watched U.S. Senate race, El-Sayed, a progressive stalwart and the former Wayne County and Detroit health director, outraised Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, $31 million to $10 million, during the three month period. For the entire election, El-Sayed, who beat U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham in the Democratic primary in August, has raised more than $45 million, compared to $21 million for Rogers.
A joint fundraising committee set up by El-Sayed and Democratic groups also raised $13 million, compared to $4 million raised by a similar group set up by Rogers and the Republicans.
While that's good news for El-Sayed, who holds a narrow lead over Rogers in polling averages of the race, it doesn't mean Rogers is scraping the bottom of the barrel for cash or support — far from it. As of Sept. 30, he had more money left in his primary campaign account, $6.5 million to El-Sayed's $3.8 million. And outside groups' spending on the Senate race in Michigan favor Rogers' by more than a 2-to-1 margin.
Those so-called independent expenditures, from groups that can't legally coordinate with the campaigns (and whose support doesn't count as contributions to the candidates' main campaign accounts), are widely responsible for many of the TV ads swamping the airwaves and cable in Michigan. Those ads have come in at close to $100 million or more for Rogers to date, compared to about $50 million for El-Sayed, according to a Free Press tabulation of Federal Election Commission records. (That's not counting the more than $30 million spent against El-Sayed in the primary by a political action committee linked to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC).
The big independent backers for Rogers, by the way, have been the Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Republican leadership in the Senate and has spent some $32 million on the race; the No Going Back PAC, aligned with Trump's MAGA Inc., which has spent $23 million; the conservative Americans for Prosperity Action PAC, which has spent nearly $17 million; GLCF, or the Great Lakes Conservative Fund, a Rogers-aligned PAC, that has spent $7 million in his effort; and Elon Musk's America PAC, which has pumped $6 million into the race.
El-Sayed's independent backers have been WinSenate, an arm of Democratic leadership in the Senate's main political action committee, which has spent $22 million on the race; the liberal Defend the Vote PAC, which has spent $4.6 million; and the El-Sayed aligned Super PAC Fighting for Michigan, which has spent $2.9 million.
Money heading to House races
But it's not just El-Sayed who led the fundraising battle in Michigan's congressional races. In the contests the Free Press and political handicappers consider competitive, Democrats led their Republican rivals in terms of fundraising in the third quarter in every race. And that's also true in some that, at least until now, haven't been considered competitive.
- In the7th Congressional District in mid-Michigan, which is widely considered the most competitive U.S. House race in the state, Democratic nominee and Lansing activist Will Lawrence raised $2.5 million in the three-month period, compared to $1.6 million for first-term U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett of Charlotte. Barrett still has the overall fundraising edge by a long shot, however, having raised $8 million this election cycle (plus having a joint fundraising committee that has raised $1.2 million) compared to Lawrence's $3.7 million total.
- In the 10th District based in Macomb and Oakland counties, Democratic nominee and Warren lawyer Christina Hines raised $2.3 million during the three-month period compared to less than $950,000 for Republican nominee Michael Bouchard of Rochester, an Army National Guard captain and son of the Oakland County sheriff of the same name. They're running in what is considered a potential pickup opportunity for Democrats as they seek to replace U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, who is running for governor. Hines has outraised Bouchard overall $3.5 million to about $2.6 million.
- In the 4th District in west Michigan, state Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, raised $1.7 million, compared to longtime U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland Township, who raised $1.3 million during the three month period. Over the entire election cycle, Huizenga has still raised more: $5.4 million to McCann's $4.3 million, and Huizenga's got a joint fundraising committee that has raised more than $540,000 as well. This is a district that has been considered staunchly Republican for decades, but political handicappers consider it a tossup this year.
- Finally, no handicappers have Michigan's 1st District, comprised of the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula, as a potential pickup given how Trump-centric and Republican-leaning it has been in elections going back more than a decade. But Democratic nominee Callie Barr, of Traverse City, has outraised sitting U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, in the three-month period, $725,371 to $395,839. Could it provide a surprise? It's still considered unlikely, and Bergman has raised $2.3 million this cycle compared to Barr's $1.6 million. But if Democrats were to retake the 1st District, you can be certain it's going to be a big night for Democrats everywhere.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Democrats in Michigan's big U.S. House, Senate races outraise GOP rivals
