Great Lakes Wire

Michigan Democrats seeking federal office have raised significantly more campaign funds than their Republican counterparts over the last quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings. In total, Democratic candidates brought in more than $11.6 million from July through September, while Republicans collected nearly $4.7 million.

The contest for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Gary Peters has attracted much of this fundraising activity. Representative Haley Stevens led all candidates with over $1.9 million raised during the period. Abdul El-Sayed followed closely with nearly $1.8 million, and State Representative Mallory McMorrow reported raising $1.7 million.

On the Republican side, Mike Rogers and his associated political action committee Team Rogers together brought in more than $1 million. Genevieve Peters Scott raised $35,544 but reported campaign debt totaling $35,038.

Cash reserves were also detailed in the reports: Rogers and Team Rogers held over $2.73 million on hand; Stevens had more than $2.1 million; El-Sayed about $1.8 million; and McMorrow approximately $1.45 million.

Campaign spending mirrored fundraising totals for most leading candidates. Team Rogers spent almost $1.5 million during the quarter, Stevens spent over $1.24 million, McMorrow spent close to $1.1 million, and El-Sayed spent just above that figure as well.

In Michigan’s 10th Congressional District (MI-10), Republican Robert Lulgjuraj was an exception to the statewide trend by raising nearly $655,000—more than all four Democratic contenders combined in that district.

For MI-10 Democrats: Eric Chung led with over $265,000 raised; Tim Greimel brought in nearly $206,000; Christina Hines received more than $174,000; and Brian Jaye raised almost $500.

Representative Tom Barrett was the top fundraiser among Republicans overall with more than $824,000 collected for his campaign in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District (MI-7). On the Democratic side of MI-7, Matt Maasdam led with more than $618,000 raised and Bridget Brink closely followed at over $611,000.

In other districts:

- Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet was the top non-Senate Democrat fundraiser with upwards of $860,000 secured and nearly double that amount remaining on hand.

- Her opponent Amir Hassan reported about $123,000 raised.

- In Michigan’s 4th Congressional District (MI-4), Senator Sean McCann posted a strong initial fundraising quarter at over $300,000—slightly less than Representative Bill Huizenga’s total—but outpaced Huizenga when counting only individual contributions.

- Don Ufford surpassed Senator Jeremy Moss in fundraising for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District race but Moss still maintained a higher cash balance.

- Donovan McKinney exceeded $220,000 in Detroit-area fundraising relying exclusively on individual donors—a contrast to Representative Shri Thanedar who garnered almost $500,000 but only a fraction came from individuals.

McKinney commented on his support base: “Since day one, we have had the people with us, and with our 80+ endorsers and our average contribution of $32.55 from thousands of supporters it is clear that our people-powered momentum is only continuing to grow,” he said.