Lansing — All four Michigan Democrats running statewide in November have expressed support for a pending petition initiative that would bar state-contracted or state-regulated corporations from contributing to politicians.
The state’s current Democratic leader, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said she is still reviewing the proposal.
The support from Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor; Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running for secretary of state; U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed; and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, who is running for attorney general, comes as the initiative’s signatures are being challenged before the Michigan Supreme Court.
U.S. Rep. John James, the Republican nominee for governor, when asked for his stance on the proposal, said “voters will decide” the question. But he noted his ethics and transparency plan includes a ban on “taxpayer-funded lobbying.”
The Republican nominees for attorney general and U.S. Senate — Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers — did not immediately say whether they would support the proposal.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, said he’s supportive of getting money out of politics but believes the ballot initiative falls short of doing so.
El-Sayed, whose campaign slogan begins with a commitment to take the “money out of politics,” was one of the first Michigan Senate Democrats to support the initiative.
Benson’s campaign said the secretary already had made some moves to ensure independence during her campaign, including a refusal to take corporate PAC money and a ban on taking contributions from regulated utilities.
“Michiganders are tired of a system that rewards special interests over working families,” said Rajan Srinivasan, Benson’s press secretary.
James argued his ethics and transparency plan, released in January “before any ballot initiative entered the picture,” could be advanced when he’s governor. “The voters will decide the ballot question,” he said.
“My top priority is stopping socialism and saving Michigan,” James said.
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics petition initiative would amend the state’s campaign finance law to prohibit contributions from monopoly utilities and companies with state government contracts worth more than $250,000. Additionally, the initiative would ban entities and people connected to utilities and large government contractors from giving to political campaigns in Michigan.
The initiative also attempts to expand transparency around so-called dark money groups. Under current law, only groups that run ads expressly telling people how to vote have to report their donors. The initiative would expand the disclosure requirements to ads that clearly identify candidates, which would encompass those ads run by dark money groups that do not usually disclose their donors.
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers ruled in July that the initiative had enough signatures to proceed to the Legislature or the ballot. But on Wednesday, a business-backed group opposing the initiative, Protect MI Free Speech, asked the Michigan Supreme Court to overrule the canvassers and find the petition short of the needed signatures.
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, in response to the Democratic support for the initiative, said it was pleased with the support from “more and more elected officials.”
“Our movement is continuing to build a broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who all agree it’s past time to put people ahead of powerful corporate interests and say no to pay-to-play politics in Lansing,” said Christy McGillivray, co-chair of the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics steering committee.
Savit argued the change was necessary to give voters confidence in their elected officials.
“I don’t think that anybody should have to ever question whether a legislator, an executive branch member, certainly an attorney general’s decisions are being influenced by campaign contributions or the potential for big money flooding their race,” Savit told reporters Thursday.
Gilchrist has previously said publicly more light needs to be shown on the contributions being spent on officials.
“Dark money is corrosive, and it needs to be gone, period,” Gilchrist said in an April social media post supporting the initiative.
Forlini argued that the ballot proposal, as it stands, would bar Michigan-linked corporations from political spending but allow “California billionaires” with no ties to the state to spend without the same limits.
The Macomb County clerk suggested the Legislature propose a separate plan that closes the loopholes that allow union and out-of-state contributors to dominate spending.
“I think it would be wise for them to do it because I think the public is going to be misinformed,” Forlini said. “The tagline is catchy. I love it. But it doesn’t do what they say it’s going to do.
“The devil’s in the details,” he said, “and there’s a lot of devils in these details.”
Whitmer’s federal PAC, Fight Like Hell, said Wednesday that “state government needs to work for the people” and touted the governor’s signing of campaign finance disclosure and lobbyist regulations into law. A dark money group linked to Whitmer has pulled in millions of dollars over her time in office.
“She is taking a look at the proposals,” said Amanda Stitt, who leads the governor’s Fight Like Hell PAC and has been paid through a Whitmer-linked dark money group.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Top of Democratic ticket backs plan to ban donations from state-linked firms
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
