Two House Democrats and one Democrat challenger in three of the most competitive state House districts reported raising more than $1 million between Aug. 27 and Oct. 20, according to campaign finance filings due to the Bureau of Elections Friday and collected by Bridge Michigan reporter Simon Schuster.
While the numbers are inflated by more than $900,000 of in-kind contributions from the House Democratic Fund for television ad buys, the amount of money raised this cycle across the board by Democrats and Republicans in competitive seats is well beyond what the state is accustomed to seeing.
Rep. Jaime Churches (D-Wyandotte), raised $1.2 million, $268,740 coming from direct contributions. Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Belleville) raised $1 million and $144,921 of that was direct contributions, and 55th House district candidate Trevis Harrold raised $1.1 million and $263,686 was from direct contributions.
Their Republican opponents were well behind all three.
Churches’ opponent, Rylee Linting, raised $357,165 with $78,433 in direct contributions, Harrold’s opponent, Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills), raised $337,080 with $44,060 in direct contributions and Miller’s opponent, Dale Biniecki, raised $191,387, with $21,945 in direct contributions.
Overall, House Democrats continued to out-raise their Republican opponents in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election, regardless of the race. In looking at only direct contributions – not including in-kind caucus contributions for TV commercials – the top 18 fundraisers over the past two months have been Democratic incumbents and challengers.
House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) is the only Republican in an arguably competitive seat to outraise the Democratic opponent, as has been the case the last several cycles. Democrats continue to take advantage of a national network, ActBlue, that allows its candidates in competitive districts to raise money from across the country.
For example, of the 3,604 individual contributions Harrold reported this period, 377 (or 10%) were from Michigan. A total of 124 (3%) came from Rochester or Rochester Hills, which basically make up his district. He also received eight contributions from Rochester, New York.
Two other Democrats broke the $1 million mark for money raised for the cycle – Rep. Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) and Denise Mentzer (D-Mount Clemens).
For Republicans, 44th House district candidate Steve Frisbie brought in the most in-kind contributions, $715,994, mostly from the House Republican Campaign Committee for ad buys and production, among other things.
The difference is Democrats are spending on expensive broadcast TV in metro Detroit, while Frisbie in the Battle Creek market and a few others are the extent to which the Republicans are spending on TV.
Those others include, Rep. Kathy Schmaltz (R-Jackson), 103rd House district candidate Lisa Trombley and 109th House district candidate Karl Bohnak, who were the top raisers among Republicans, with Frisbie leading the pack with $777,689.
Trombley’s opponent, Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City), leads all of the House candidates in cash on hand, with $155,236. Reps. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton), Jenn Hill (D-Marquette), Jim Haadsma (D-Battle Creek), Harrold and Churches follow, with none of them having less than $119,631 in cash on hand.
Reps. Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Schmaltz lead Republicans in cash on hand, with $118,644 and $107,935 respectively.
This period covers Aug. 27 to Oct. 20 and is the last peek into candidates’ financial standing until after the Nov. 5 election.
Kevin Whiteford and Adam Stathakis are carrying the most debt, with $272,022 and $101,577 respectively. Reps. Hall, Tom Kunse (R-Clare), Matt Maddock (R-Milford) and Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) taking the next spots in line for most debt.
The Democrat with the most debt is Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) with $41,250.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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