Lansing — Mike Duggan, an independent candidate to be Michigan’s next governor, told a crowd Tuesday that he expects the state’s fall election to attract $600 million in spending and the cash to mainly come from undisclosed sources.
The former mayor of Detroit made the remarks after being asked about campaign finance reform during an appearance at a Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce event at the Country Club of Lansing.
“It’s predominantly corporate money,” Duggan said of the expected spending. “It’s predominantly dark money.”
Asked afterward how he arrived at the $600 million price tag, Duggan said it was what he was being told by TV stations that sell airtime to campaigns and political groups for commercials.
The number includes spending on Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, U.S. House races and campaigns for the state Legislature, Duggan said.
As a comparison, in 2018, across all 50 states, U.S. House and U.S. Senate races drew $5.7 billion, according to the tracking website Open Secrets.
Duggan also told the Lansing crowd that he’s in favor of forcing the disclosure of the sources of political spending. However, a nonprofit organization that’s backed by secret donors has also spent more than $10 million on TV advertisements promoting Duggan’s bid for governor. That group’s name is Put Progress First.
Duggan said out-of-state donors were backing the major party candidates for governor because they want a member of their own party in charge of Michigan for the 2028 presidential election.
He referenced Democratic candidate Jocelyn Benson, noting that the two-term secretary of state pledged not to accept corporate political action committee (PAC) money.
“What a bunch of hypocrites we’ve got,” Duggan then said. “The law allows the Democratic and the Republican Party to have something they call an administrative account.”
Those accounts can accept money from secret donors.
Nikki Goldschein, Benson’s campaign manager, noted that Benson has fought for transparency as Michigan’s secretary of state and that Duggan had a “newfound interest” in the topic.
“Maybe he can start by disclosing his dark money, (c)(4) donors who have already spent over $14 million dollars on ads boosting his name in this race — only for him to be polling at 13%,” Goldschein said.
James declines to address targeting of Black districts
Republican U.S. Rep. John James, who is the Michigan congressional delegation’s only Black lawmaker, last week declined to directly weigh in on the rush in Southern states to redraw lines for congressional districts targeting Black-majority districts, calling it a “state issue.” James is running for governor.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision this spring, dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act in a case out of Louisiana, with the justices limiting how race can be used to draw the boundaries of legislative districts.
Black voters and lawmakers contend the move in multiple Southern states to redraw maps in the wake of the decision could disenfranchise voters and erode the opportunity for African Americans to have a voice in who represents them in Congress.
Asked if he’s concerned that the redistricting in the South could result in fewer Black lawmakers in Congress, James said his focus is on being the best representative for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District and delivering on legislation he’s pushed, like funding for Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
But when asked if he would be comfortable with similar redistricting in Michigan that has the effect of diluting Black voting power, James told The Detroit News, “that’s a state issue.”
“The focus of my efforts right now are on serving the people of the state of Michigan and my current role in Congress,” James said. “We have an independent redistricting commission, so I think that you could probably take that question up with those guys.”
Hall ruminates on lawmaker prediction market ban
When asked on Wednesday for his thoughts on a possible state-level ban on lawmaker prediction market bets, House Speaker Matt Hall said he would have to think about what type of state intel could even be used on a prediction market and whether it would merit such a ban.
The Richland Township Republican said he had never placed a bet on a prediction market.
“I do think it would be unethical for a legislator to use information they receive in a meeting and then use that and place a bet on a prediction market and make money,” Hall said. “That should not be allowed.”
He later added: “But the key there is I’ve never used a prediction market, not yet.”
Hall likened the proposition to the bans on insider trading at the congressional level, but was unsure what sort of insider information among state lawmakers was comparable.
“How many of these guys go to Congress, they’re not very well off, and then they’re very wealthy when they leave office?” Hall said.
Last month, the state warned its employees against using insider information to make bets in online prediction markets. The warning came shortly after a U.S. Army soldier was charged with trading on Polymarket with classified information regarding the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Jackson launches Tlaib challenge
Former state Rep. Shanelle Jackson of Dearborn Heights launched a third primary campaign Friday against U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit.
“For nearly eight years, this district has had plenty of political theater,” Jackson said in a statement. “The show is over. People need effective leadership that can move policy, pass laws and deliver real results.”
Jackson served in the state House from 2007 through 2013. She ran unsuccessfully against Tlaib in primaries in 2022 and 2018.
There are three candidates in the 12th District Democratic primary race with Jackson, Tlaib and Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen.
Barrett votes to end Iran war
U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, was one of three Republicans to vote last week for a House effort to rein in President Donald Trump’s war against Iran and require him to get authorization from Congress to continue military operations there.
Barrett, a first term congressman who faces a tough reelection bid in mid-Michigan, previously had opposed other such votes since the Iran war started.
The measure failed to pass due to a tie 212-212 vote, with Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine the only Democrat to vote no. Other Republicans voting yes were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
His vote comes after Barrett, an Iraq veteran, introduced legislation this month to authorize military operations in Iran but limit their scope and impose a 90-day deadline to end the war, saying the president can’t continue to wage war overseas without involving Congress.
The bill denies authorization for putting troops on the ground in Iran, nation-building, or occupying or holding territory within Iran.Trump has said he does not need to seek approval from Congress for the Iran war and pointed to previous presidents having done the same with prior conflicts.
Rogers’ ad aims to revive shop class
A new ad from GOP Senate hopeful Mike Rogers running on digital and streaming platforms about putting shop back into high schools as a training ground for the skilled trades. The spot has $150,000 behind it, per Rogers’ campaign.
Rogers, a former seven-term congressman from White Lake Township, in the ad notes he’s the son of a shop teacher and back in the day learned to get his hands dirty until something changed:
“Politicians started looking down on the trades. College debt soared. And now, we have six-figure jobs that companies like Ford can’t fill,” Rogers tells the camera. “Let’s put shop class back in every high school and train our kids for real jobs — jobs AI can’t eliminate. Jobs China can’t steal.”
Endorsement watch
Division at the Michigan Education Association over who to endorse in the race for governor was the most intriguing endorsement news last week.
The MEA, the state’s largest educator union, said its committee that decides candidate endorsements couldn’t agree between Duggan, Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, a Democrat challenging Benson.
But later in the week, Swanson touted the endorsement of the MEA’s Wayne County Region 2, which includes unionized public school teachers in Allen Park, Dearborn Heights, Livonia, Plymouth-Canton, Romulus and Wyandotte.
“The establishment may be shocked, but the people of Michigan I’ve talked to saw this dark horse coming a mile away,” Swanson said in response to the regional-level teachers union endorsement.
Meanwhile, former Michigan congressman David Bonior has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. Bonior, 80, represented Macomb and St. Clair counties in the U.S. House from 1977 to 2002, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor.
In the 10th Congressional District, former Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel picked up the endorsement of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 1M in the Democratic primary against former prosecutor Christina Hines and ex-Commerce Department attorney Eric Chung.
In the 7th District Democratic primary, former Navy SEAL and White House aide Matt Maasdam picked up the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 66 this week.
Maasdam is in a three-way primary against former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink and progressive community organizer William Lawrence, who snagged an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib this week.
Brink, meanwhile, touted the endorsements of the Michigan Machinists Council and the Committee to Protect Health Care, a national organization of health care professionals and advocates.
Tweet of the Week
The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week goes to state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford.
With some family advice, Maddock opined Friday on data from the state’s biannual Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference that shows the number of children in Michigan dropping.
“Have more kids please,” Maddock wrote on X.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
mburke@detroitnews.com
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
Politics Editor Chad Livengood contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Insider: Duggan says Michigan election will fetch $600M spending blitz
Reporting by Craig Mauger, Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
