Great Lakes Wire

With just over a year remaining before Michigan's gubernatorial election, the latest campaign finance filings have provided new details on the fundraising efforts of the eight major candidates. The reports, filed with the Secretary of State, offer a look at how each candidate is positioned financially as they prepare for next November’s vote.

Jocelyn Benson, currently serving as Secretary of State, leads among Democratic candidates with $1.2 million raised in the last quarter and nearly $3 million in cash on hand. She is followed by Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, who raised $358,000 this cycle and has just over $378,000 available. Sheriff Chris Swanson of Genessee County brought in $296,000 and holds a slight cash advantage over Gilchrist with $385,000 on hand.

The report notes that these figures align with recent internal polling from Benson’s campaign showing her holding a 39% lead over her two Democratic rivals.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, running as an independent, reported raising $1.1 million during this period and now has $2.4 million available—ranking him third overall in total cash on hand.

On the Republican side, former Attorney General Mike Cox stands out for having raised $2.1 million this quarter—$2 million of which came from personal loans to his campaign—and has invested a total of $3 million from his own funds so far. This brings his total cash on hand to more than $3.7 million.

Congressman John James increased his available funds to $2.3 million after raising nearly $1.4 million—the most donor money among all candidates this quarter.

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt collected $424,000 this cycle and now has about $2.1 million in reserve; former Speaker Tom Leonard raised $290,000 and holds roughly $709,000.

SBAM is organizing events to allow its members to meet with these gubernatorial candidates ahead of the election. More information about these events can be found at https://www.sbam.org/gubernatorial-candidate-series/.

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