Mackinac Island ― Mike Duggan is offering a partial refund to donors of his now-suspended governor’s campaign.
It isn’t much ― “maybe 10 cents on the dollar,” the former Detroit mayor says ― but it is a symbolic affirmation he means it when he says he will never seek elected office again.
“We’ve got to figure out the legal process, but we’re sending (the donations) back. My campaign would probably have a million bucks left (of the $8 million raised.) Whatever it is, we’ll send it back.”
Much of the money was raised from those gathered on the island this week for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. It was supposed to be a coronation of Duggan as the chamber’s endorsed candidate. But it has turned into something of a funeral, with all the standard stages of anger, denial, acceptance and grief.
The prevailing sentiment is Duggan should have stuck it out and hoped for the national mood to turn.
Duggan, in a sit-down with The Detroit News, said it was because of the support he received from this group that he felt compelled to come to the conference and explain why he dropped out, as awkward as it is for him.
He repeated his talking points of the national sentiment against President Donald Trump, predicting a blue wave in the fall, which would make it more difficult to bring Democratic voters into his coalition. He also noted the astronomical challenge of prevailing as an independent without a national fundraising structure.
The national parties are expected to put $80 million to $100 million each into the Michigan race, he said, and he’d have to raise at least half as much.
“It would have required my Michigan donors to basically double what they’ve already done,” he says. “… And we were still going to be outspent. I just couldn’t let people do that.”
Particularly since he knew the path to victory for him had closed.
“I couldn’t do it,” he says.
Still, Duggan seemed wistful about what might have been.
“I really thought if we could get the two parties to agree on a strategy for the schools, for affordable housing, and a real economic wellness strategy, that we could build something for the long run,” he says.
He talks about the farmers he met on his outstate swings, the crowds who attended his meet and greets and the frustration they shared with him about the failure of government.
“They all feel forgotten,” he says.
Asked what he plans to do next, Duggan repeatedly said he hadn’t had time to think about it. Would he consider leading a business-backed initiative to reform state government? Step into the presidency at either the University of Michigan or into the new vacancy at Michigan State University?
“Haven’t had time to think about it,” he says. His plans, he says, extend no further than a trip to Dallas with his son, Patrick, to attend a World Cup soccer game.
Duggan says he isn’t ready to back a candidate in the governor’s race. That decision will come later in the year, and only if a candidate embraces his agenda of consensus governing. And he’s open to working for legislative candidates who do the same.
“I’m hoping that one or more of them will look at (our agenda) and say ‘That’s where I’m going, because substantively you’ve covered it.'”
For now, he remains an independent and isn’t considering a return to the Democratic Party.
He has no regrets, he says, and hopes his campaign made a difference, even though it failed.
“The calls I’ve had the last four days, people were proud to have tried,” he says. “They were proud to have contributed, to have helped. The direction was something to be proud of.
“The day is going to come when the state’s situation is going to be such that people are going to be ready for something different. And they’ll probably look back at this campaign and say it was a step in the right direction, but I wasn’t the one who got it done.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Finley: Duggan returning campaign donations, undecided about future
Reporting by Nolan Finley, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
