Great Lakes Wire

Campaign finance reports released Friday show that Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Michigan are relying heavily on ActBlue and out-of-state small-dollar contributions. More than half of the donors to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and presumed frontrunner Jocelyn Benson came from outside Michigan, with Benson receiving 10 percent of her more than 27,000 contributions from California.

Independent candidate Mike Duggan, by contrast, has focused on larger in-state donations. Duggan raised $3.2 million, trailing Benson by $300,000, and reported cash on hand of $2,319,269—about $100,000 less than Benson.

Chris DeWitt of DeWitt Communications and FOIA Services Michigan said Duggan’s fundraising provides him two key advantages: “First, he doesn’t have to spend money on a primary,” DeWitt said. “Second, due to his positive name recognition in Southeast Michigan, he can use his funds to bolster his name and record in the much cheaper out-state media markets.” He added: “I contend Duggan’s $3 million is worth more in the neighborhood of $6 million when taking into account the advantages he has over the other candidates.”

Benson reported raising $3,536,957, spending $1,116,974 and having $2,420,010 in cash on hand. She shifted $592,418 from her Secretary of State campaign account. Of her 27,206 individual contributions—more than twice that of all Republican candidates combined—13,717 (50.4 percent) were from out-of-state donors; 2,745 (10 percent) were from California residents. Six of her 23 fundraisers took place in California; nine were held in Michigan; the rest were elsewhere.

Benson received support from high-profile national progressive donors Alex and George Soros as well as public figures such as George Takei and Alyssa Milano.

A significant portion of Benson’s contributors listed their occupation as “not employed” (65 percent), while another five percent identified as retired.

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II raised $768,201 with 10,183 contributions; only 40 percent came from within Michigan. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson raised $1,064,309 with just over half his contributions coming from within the state.

Duggan reported receiving only seven percent of his contributions from out-of-state donors but had a higher average contribution size ($1,942) compared to Swanson ($399.70), Benson ($107.46), or Gilchrist ($75.21). Most Duggan contributors are employed individuals.

All three Democratic candidates spent significant amounts due to ActBlue processing fees and campaign costs.

Not counting transfers between accounts or prior officeholder funds moved into campaigns: Duggan led direct hard-dollar fundraising among announced gubernatorial candidates at $3.2 million; Benson followed at nearly $2.9 million; then Nesbitt at about $1.9 million; James at roughly $1.5 million; Swanson at over $860 thousand; Cox at just over $800 thousand; Gilchrist at about $768 thousand; Leonard at approximately $183 thousand.