Fundraising in Michigan state legislative elections, 2020
September 29, 2020
The value of money in Michigan politics extends beyond purchasing power. Campaign cash allows candidates to promote their message and turn out their voters, but perhaps more importantly, it often represents momentum. While having the biggest campaign account is no guarantee of success at the polls, studies conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics and the Campaign Finance Institute found a strong correlation.[1][2]
As part of our ongoing partnership with Transparency USA, we took a closer look at how the two major political party candidates for the Michigan House of Representatives have been doing with fundraising in a cycle-vs-cycle comparison from 2018 to 2020. Here’s what we found:
- The overall contributions favor the Democrats. As of the semiannual reports, Democratic candidates for the Michigan House of Representatives had raised $5.3 million, while Republicans had raised $4.8 million.
- Compared to 2018, numbers are down for both parties, but more so for Republicans. For example, the total number of individual contributions to Democrats dropped 10 percent compared to 2018, while the number of donations to Republicans is down 51 percent. Moreover, the number of small-dollar donations (less than or equal to $100) rose by 4 percent for Democrats, while Republicans saw a 44 percent decline.
In Michigan, 128 state legislative primaries took place in 2018, and 36 of them (28%) were decided by a margin of 10% or less. In 2020, 93 state legislative primaries took place, and 20 of them (22%) were decided by a margin of 10% or less.
Democrats vs. Republicans, by the numbers
Candidate donations
The numbers from the table below were taken from campaign finance reports for Michigan House of Representatives candidates from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, and those were compared with reports from the same time period during the 2018 election cycle.
| Donations to Michigan House of Representatives candidates, 2018 and 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan House Candidate Donations | 2018 Cycle (1/1/2017 - 6/30/2018) |
2020 Cycle (1/1/2019 - 6/30/2020) |
Percentage (%) Change |
| Number of Candidates - Democrat | 312 | 221 | -29% |
| Number of Candidates - Republican | 259 | 193 | -25% |
| Total Donations - Democrat | $9,095,513 | $5,325,874 | -41% |
| Total Donations - Republican | $11,656,495 | $4,804,758 | -59% |
| Number of Donations - Democrat | 46,674 | 42,063 | -10% |
| Number of Donations - Republican | 24,372 | 12,004 | -51% |
| Average Raised by Candidates - Democrat | $29,152 | $24,099 | -17% |
| Average Raised by Candidates - Republican | $45,006 | $24,895 | -45% |
| Average Donation Amount - Democrat | $195 | $127 | -35% |
| Average Donation Amount - Republican | $478 | $400 | -16% |
Party donations
In Michigan, party donations for the 2020 election cycle so far favor the Democrats, both in total numbers and in comparison to 2018.
| Donations to State party PACs, 2018 and 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State Party PACs | 2018 Cycle (1/1/2017 - 6/30/2018) |
2020 Cycle (1/1/2019 - 6/30/2020) |
Percentage (%) Change |
| Democratic State Central Committee | $562,314.35 | $1,537,958.50 | 174% |
| Michigan Republican Party | $3,927,150 | $1,521,218 | -61% |
How do we get these numbers?
Transparency USA matches the lists of candidates who filed to run for Michigan House of Representatives in the last two election cycles with records of campaign accounts and affiliated political action committees (PACs). In cases with more, the numbers are combined to get a complete picture of the money raised.
After linking all campaign accounts to a candidate name, Transparency USA "cleans" the data; in other words, they remove duplicate and sometimes triplicate entries. Often, a candidate’s donation is reported multiple times because of overlapping or confusing filing deadlines with the state agency. Sometimes there are misspelled names, like a John Doe, John Dough, and John and Mary Dow, all at the same address. Other times, they link together nicknames such as Tim Brown and Timothy Brown at the same address. They also link unclear PAC names, like "Pete for Senate," to the correct candidate (i.e. "Pete Smith").
While we have totaled the contributions to candidates to give you the big picture, you can see all the individual contributions by searching the candidate’s name below.
Charts
State house
Fundraising advantages
Overall fundraising
Fundraising comparison
Full data set
The story isn’t over
In 2018, 51.28 percent of the total giving came in during the last months before the election. If the trend holds true, we should see another $10.66 million flow into Michigan campaign coffers before election day.
Limitations
The direct comparison between fundraising data from 2018 and 2020 is limited by at least two factors. First, the same seats and offices were not necessarily up for election in both years. For example, Michigan held elections for both chambers (the state Senate and House of Representatives) in 2018, but only for the House in 2020. Second, additional offices on the ballot in a year might affect the amount of money raised in state legislative elections. For example, among the states studied, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin all held gubernatorial elections alongside their state legislative elections in 2018 but not 2020.
See also
- Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020
- Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020/Campaign finance
- Ballotpedia: Our partnership with Transparency USA
- Federal campaign finance laws and regulations
- State legislative elections, 2020
External links
Footnotes
