• Abdul El-Sayed, other Democrats are outraising Republicans across key federal races in Michigan
  • When factoring in outside spending from super PACs and dark money groups, spending often shifts in Republican’s favor
  • The US Senate race between El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is now the most expensive in Michigan history

DETROIT — Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed raised the most money of any candidate in Michigan history last quarter. 

The $30.7 million reported by El-Sayed’s campaign was three times as much as the $9.7 million raised by Republican Mike Rogers, an advantage diminished by heavy outside spending in the race by GOP-aligned groups. 

The race is now far-and-away the most expensive election in Michigan’s history, with more than $270 million in disclosed spending to date, not counting additional undisclosed “dark money” spending. That’s up from $217 million in disclosed spending in Rogers’ 2024 race against US Sen. Elissa Slotkin. 

Related: 

Democrats in competitive US House races also reported out-fundraising their Republican counterparts in the latest reporting period, which covered donations between July 16 and Sept. 30.

Read on to learn how the candidates fared.

Huge Senate sums

Rogers’ fundraising haul of $9.7 million was the most he’s raised in a quarter across two US Senate campaigns but was easily eclipsed by the $30.7 million El-Sayed raised.

Rogers spent less too, however, and ended the period with $6.5 million in the bank, more than the $3.8 million in reserves reported by El-Sayed. 

More than 800 contributors gave a maximum general election donation of $3,500 to El-Sayed’s campaign or a related joint fundraising account, including:

  • Actors Danny Devito and Morgan Spector (Mark Ruffalo, Jane Fonda, Matthew Lillard, Cynthia Nixon and Susan Sarandon gave less than the maximum)
  • Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott
  • MSU doctor and professor Mona Hanna, who helped expose the Flint water crisis

El-Sayed also did well with smaller-dollar donors:

  • People who gave El-Sayed less than $200 for the election cycle — which exempts them from being disclosed — made up more than a third of his fundraising total, about $11.2 million.
  • Nearly 55,000 people who contributed less than $200 in the quarter but more than that for the cycle gave El-Sayed a collective $2.5 million. About 22,000 of those donors listed a Michigan address.

After the filing deadline, The New York Times reported that Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — who joined El-Sayed at campaign stops in the Upper Peninsula this week — transferred another $1 million into a joint fundraising account to benefit El-Sayed.

Rogers had far fewer small-dollar donors. He reported about $1.1 million from donors who gave less than $200 in the cycle, less than a tenth of El-Sayed. Of the 26,000 donations under $200 that he reported, 3,100 came from contributors with a Michigan address. 

Donors who gave the $3,500 maximum to Rogers’ campaign included:

  • Anthony Pritzker, the brother of Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
  • Billionaire investor Ken Griffin
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield chief operating officer Tricia Keith

Both candidates have drawn donations from across the country as they compete in one of the most closely watched elections of the year. About 28% of El-Sayed’s itemized donations came from Michiganders, compared to about 21% for Rogers. Itemized donations from outside Michigan made up a slim majority of Rogers’ overall fundraising for the quarter. 

Rogers also accepted donations from political action committees representing the Henry Ford Health System, American Petroleum Institute, the DeVos-owned Alticor Inc., tobacco giant Altria, the Michigan mortgage lenders Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage. 

While El-Sayed has vowed not to take donations from corporate PACs, he did accept donations from PACs representing various labor unions and left-leaning interest groups.

Rogers’ fundraising deficit was offset somewhat by $9.1 million in fundraising for a super PAC formed to support him, the Great Lakes Conservatives Fund. The Fighting for Michigan PAC, formed to support El-Sayed, has not had to disclose donors recently but spent about $1.5 million in the quarter. 

Independent spending from outside groups continues to tilt in Rogers’ favor. As of Thursday, outside groups have combined to spend nearly $95 million to boost Rogers in the general election, compared to $42 million for El-Sayed.

AdImpact reported Friday that the campaigns and outside groups have reserved another $40 million in air time for ads in the election’s final weeks. 

Key congressionals

Democrats’ fundraising advantage in key US House races was starkest in Macomb County’s 10th Congressional District, where Republican US Rep. John James ran for governor rather than seeking reelection.

Democratic prosecutor Christina Hines raised $2.3 million in the quarter, more than twice as much as the $942,000 raised by Army veteran Michael Bouchard, a Republican.

More than half of Hines’ donations came from outside Michigan, whereas slightly more than half of Bouchard’s itemized donations came from Michiganders.

The district has remained competitive in the last two cycles, and outside spending has reflected it, with about $11.6 million disclosed for the general election. Both candidates ended the quarter with similar cash on hand.

In the hotly-contested 7th Congressional District, Democratic challenger Will Lawrence raised about $2.5 million, compared to $1.6 million raised by incumbent US Rep. Tom Barrett. But Barrett exited September with a $2.3 million war chest, while Lawrence had about $1 million in reserves.

After a competitive Democratic primary, disclosed outside spending has tilted slightly in Barrett’s favor, with $7.3 million behind and $6.4 million behind Lawrence. That total excludes dark money groups, which do not have to disclose their spending and have flooded Michigan airwaves with ads.

The 4th Congressional District race between Republican US Rep. Bill Huizenga and state Sen. Sean McCann recently was shifted to “tossup” status by national forecasters. McCann raised about $1.7 million in the last quarter, compared to about $1.3 for Huizenga. 

As Democratic bullishness toward the Nov. 3 general election has grown, so has the hope for broad gains. Michigan Democrats have long eyed northern Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, held by Republican Jack Bergman since 2017.

Though the Cook Political Report still rates the district as a “Solid R” seat, Democratic challenger Callie Barr outraised Bergman by a significant margin in the last quarter, pulling in about $750,000 to his $396,000. The plurality of Barr’s money, 43%, came from donors in Michigan, whereas 41% of Bergman’s came from PAC contributions. 

No public polling has been released in the race, which is a rematch after Bergman defeated Barr by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

In the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten reported a financial advantage over Terri DeBoer as her once-tossup district has become safer for Democrats. 

Scholten also reported receiving nearly $75,000 bundled by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Scholten stood out among federally-elected Michigan Democratic for her sustained criticism of El-Sayed, and has declined to endorse or campaign with him.

Candidates will have one more campaign finance report due ahead of the Nov. 3 election. It will be filed next week to report the money they raised in the first half of October. 

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com