Tudor Dixon improves fundraising but remains vastly outspent by Gov. Whitmer

LANSING - Republican challenger Tudor Dixon finally kicked her fundraising into high gear in the most recent reporting period, with the $4.4 million Dixon raised coming close to equaling the $4.7 million that incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer raised during the same period, reports filed Friday show.

However, Whitmer's record-setting donor haul has left Dixon vastly outraised overall this cycle, and the Democratic governor's campaign has spent roughly eight times what Dixon's has, with polls showing a tightening race as the Nov. 8 Election Day approaches.

Donations to Whitmer's campaign during the most recent reporting period brought the total amount she has raised for the election cycle to $36.4 million. Though that amount includes more than $3.5 million Whitmer turned over to the Michigan Democratic Party because of donation caps that were exceeded by donors, the amount raised is a record for a Michigan candidate for governor who is funding a campaign from donations, rather than personal wealth.

Whitmer spent $14.7 million between Aug. 23 and Oct. 23, most of it on TV ads, and brought her total campaign spending to $30.5 million. Her campaign spending may exceed even the $35 million that Republican candidate Dick DeVos spent, nearly all of it from his personal fortune, on his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2006.

The most recent spending still left Whitmer with just over $4 million to spend in the final days of the campaign, compared to just under $3 million for Dixon.

Dixon's total fundraising is now at $6.8 million. Her campaign spent just under $2 million during the most recent reporting period, bringing her total spending to $3.8 million.

The biggest donations Dixon received during the reporting period were $66,350 from the Cherry Capital Victory Committee, which held a Leelanau-area fundraiser for Dixon, and $34,000 from the Michigan Farm Bureau.

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She received more than 60 donations of the maximum $7,150 allowed, including donations of that amount from former Gov. John Engler and his wife Michelle, American Axle CEO David Dauch and his wife Anita, and West Bloomfield developer Ron Boji, who is CEO of the Boji Group.

Notably absent from the report was a promised $100,000 donation to Dixon from the Michigan Republican Party.

"The party is still doing the $100K donation. That hasn't changed," party spokesman Gustavo Portela said in a Friday text message, providing no further explanation as to why the money has yet to arrive.

The biggest donations Whitmer received in the reporting period were $51,500 from the Michigan Laborers PAC and $49,500 from the Operating Engineers Local 324. Those donations brought the total given by each of those two union PACs to $71,500, the maximum allowed by law.

Whitmer also received about 60 additional donations from individual donors of the $7,150 maximum. Those included donations from Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Broadway producer and environmental activist Louise Gund, and Chicago businessman Fred Eychaner, the chairman of Newsweb Corp. and an advocate for LGBTQ rights.

Third-party spending has helped Dixon, whose campaign until this week was unable to air its own TV ads.

Members of the DeVos family and other mostly west Michigan business executives put another $5 million into a Super PAC supporting Dixon in the most recent quarter, bringing total contributions to the Michigan Families United fund to $7.5 million.

The Republican Governors Association or related entities have spent more than $3 million for TV ads supporting Dixon and a PAC associated with former President Donald Trump kicked in for an ad buy of less than $1 million in recent days.

But even in the area of third-party spending, Dixon remains outmatched. The Democratic Governors Association and related entities have spent more than $20 million on ads supporting Whitmer.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dixon improves fundraising but still trails Whitmer by big margin