Billionaires, dark money dominate record-setting Michigan election spending

• 'Dark money' groups and the ultrawealthy made up the largest donors in Michigan state politics for the 2024 election
• Most of the top donors to House Democrats were from committees representing labor unions
• The billionaire DeVos family, longtime Michigan GO power players, again topped the list of largest individual donors

LANSING — So-called dark money organizations and ultrawealthy donors were the largest reported spenders in Michigan state politics during the 2024 election cycle, according to a Bridge Michigan analysis of campaign finance records.

Members of the billionaire DeVos family of west Michigan were again the biggest individual spenders, collectively donating nearly $4.4 million to state-level candidates and political causes. 

A political action committee dedicated to supporting House Republicans was the biggest spending organization, at $6.2 million. 

Political spending nationwide smashed records during the latest election year, with the presidential election costing more than $16 billion. Michigan’s state-level elections were no exception.

Nearly $4.5 million of the Republican State Leadership Committee’s total spending came from an account that is not required to disclose donors, according to campaign finance records. It hired vendors to canvas for Republican candidates, send text messages and place ads supporting GOP candidates.

Though Democrats ultimately outraised and outspent Republicans in the fall election, the GOP flipped four Democratic seats and will enter 2025 with a six-seat majority in the chamber.

The spending totals reported to the state are only part of the overall election influence effort in Michigan, where both politicians and political parties are also able to raise money to other accounts that don’t require any disclosures.

The Michigan Democratic Party spent nearly $13 million on broadcast advertising in state House races alone using an account that doesn’t have any disclosure requirements under Michigan’s campaign finance laws.

The DeVos family, longtime GOP megadonors who have helped shape Michigan politics for decades, this year supported Republicans through various avenues, including $137,200 directly to candidate campaigns and $781,752 to the PAC representing the House GOP, along with $342,125 to their Senate counterpart.

DeVos family members also gave $2.3 million to the Michigan Freedom Network, an offshoot of the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative advocacy group also largely funded by the family.

Related:

• Michigan House flips to Republicans: Here’s how they did it
• ‘Dark money’ helped Democrats dominate Michigan Supreme Court races
• Michigan House battle was most expensive ever. Dems spent big, GOP won anyway

Other large individual donors included Kenneth and Jennifer Duda of California, a millionaire tech entrepreneur and Stanford doctor, respectively, who gave a combined $1.5 million to a PAC controlled by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is exploring a gubernatorial campaign. 

The Dudas each gave $750,000 to Benson’s Michigan Legacy PAC, which in turn distributed a portion of the money to Democratic candidates.

Political operatives often moved money in complex ways. 

Democratic nominees for the Michigan Supreme Court, who easily won their races, benefited from millions of dollars in out-of-state independent spending. Justice Project Action, a so-called “dark money” nonprofit, contributed $4.4 million to a super PAC supporting Democrats’ nominees. 

At the same time, a different Justice Project account that does report its donors transferred $1.4 million, to its own super PAC.

GOP had billionaires, Dems had unions

The 2024 Michigan House election was the most expensive in state history, costing more than $67 million.

Bridge Michigan analyzed campaign finance contributions to state House candidates, their leadership political action committees, and the PACs representing each caucus in order to determine the largest donors in the state House election.

Each caucus PAC can receive $48,875 a calendar year from individuals, the equivalent of donating the maximum to nearly 80 House candidates over a two-year election cycle, making large donations to that fund particularly lucrative.

Democratic coffers were dominated by labor union PACs, which are funded by union members. Unions representing employees in the public and private sectors gave at least $4.2 million to House campaigns this cycle. With a majority in both chambers the past two years, Democrats passed an array of legislation to favor organized labor, most prominently repealing Michigan’s decade-old “right-to-work” law.

Republican House candidates experienced the lowest total campaign fundraising since the 2006 election, but many familiar names appeared among the largest donors, including the Devos family, the furniture giant Hayworth family and the Kennedy family, who own Autocam Medical.

Some major self-funded candidates cut their own campaigns six-figure checks. Those include University of Michigan Regent Denise Ilitch, a billionaire Democrat who spent $829,000 on her campaign and won reelection.

The family of Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, spent widely, contributing close to $200,000 to elect Republicans throughout the state, with about half of that total going to his leadership PAC.

Former Warren Mayor Jim Foust, ousted from his municipal seat, spent about $120,000 on his 14th District state House campaign but lost the Democratic primary by more than 4,000 votes to incumbent Rep. Mike McFall of Hazel Park. 

Parker Faribairn, who unseated embattled Rep. Neil Friske of Charlevoix in the Republican primary, spent $83,000 of his own money on the campaign. State representatives receive an annual salary of $71,685.

Some of Michigan’s most influential special interest groups made donations that were nearly evenly balanced between parties. 

The Michigan Association of Realtors, for instance, gave $424,000 to Democrats and $364,000 to Republicans. DTE Energy, one of the state’s major utilities, gave $312,000 to Democrats and $227,000 to Republicans.