GOP fund focused on flipping Michigan House outraises Dems

Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press
Updated ·3 min read
2

The Republican campaign arm focused on flipping control of Michigan's state House outraised Democrats in the most recent quarter. But both GOP and Democratic funds brought in massive sums with an election more than a year away, an indication that the 2024 state legislative elections in Michigan will be closely fought and very expensive.

Quarterly reports for the Michigan House Democratic Fund and House Republican Campaign Committee show GOP lawmakers in the state House with a $74,914 edge over Democrats. In the period covering April 21 through July 20, Republicans raised $1,000,747.36 for their House campaign committee while Democrats brought in $925,833.03.

Democrats had an ending balance of $1,748,060 while Republicans had a $2,303,080 ending balance, the quarterly reports show.

Michigan's state Senate elections won't take place until 2026. Campaign finance reports from that chamber's Democratic and GOP campaign arms show Republicans also had an edge over Democrats last quarter. The Michigan Senate Democratic Fund brought in $623,078.49 while the Senate Republican Campaign Committee garnered $673,905.80.

Large sums flow into House GOP campaign coffers

Compared with the same period heading in the 2022 election cycle, Republicans almost doubled their fundraising in the most recent quarter.

"I'm extremely proud of the work that we did last quarter," said state Rep. Andrew Beeler, R-Port Huron, who chairs the Republicans' campaign committee. He sees the contributions to the GOP effort to wrest control of the state House from Democrats as a clear "rebuttal" to the direction Democrats have taken Michigan.

State Rep. Andrew Beeler, R-Port Huron, speaks on the state House floor. Beeler serves as chair of House Republicans' campaign arm, the House Republican Campaign Committee.
State Rep. Andrew Beeler, R-Port Huron, speaks on the state House floor. Beeler serves as chair of House Republicans' campaign arm, the House Republican Campaign Committee.

While Republicans outraised Democrats this past quarter, state Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, who chairs Democrats' state House campaign arm said that Democratic lawmakers in competitive districts fared well in their own fundraising efforts. "And so when you take into account those additional dollars that were raised ... for our front-line members, we're really proud of ... how we did this quarter," she said.

"Still, this quarter was a record quarter as well for Dems," she said. It's more money than they've ever raised at this point in the election cycle, she said.

Dems flipped state House in last year's midterm

Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections flipped control of the state House. The last time Democrats held a majority of seats in the chamber was in 2010.

But last year's election resulted in a narrow majority for Democrats.

They won 56 seats while Republicans won 54. While Democrats hold a two-seat majority, they cannot afford to have any Democrat defect on legislation unanimously opposed by GOP state House lawmakers since bills require the support of a majority of members elected and serving in the 110-member chamber.

More: Conversion therapy targeting LGBTQ+ youth banned in Michigan

More: Severe storms sweep through Michigan, knocking out power for 127,000 customers

Across Michigan, Democratic state House candidates won 51% of the statewide vote while Republican candidates won 49%.

Preparing for 2024 election

Democrats hope they can preserve their majority in the state House by highlighting what they've accomplished with their newly won power such as reversing GOP labor laws, establishing new gun safety measures and repealing abortion restrictions.

Beeler, meanwhile, said that how Democrats have so far wielded their majority will help Republicans. Asked what Republicans need to do to keep their fundraising efforts up, he said, "Democrats have been doing a pretty job of keeping people interested in us thus far I would say with how they're governing."

Both parties have their eyes on newly drawn competitive state House districts crafted for the first time in Michigan's history by a citizen-led, independent redistricting commission.

State Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, serves as chair of House Democrats' campaign arm, the Michigan House Democratic Fund.
State Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, serves as chair of House Democrats' campaign arm, the Michigan House Democratic Fund.

"Because of the way that these new lines have been drawn, we have way more competitive seats than we used to, which is a good thing," Weiss said. "But it also means that it's a lot more expensive to be able to competitive in those seats on both sides."

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House GOP's campaign arm raises massive sum