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Campaign finance requirements in Michigan
 in Michigan |
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Federal campaign finance laws and regulations |
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| Campaign finance reform |
| History of campaign finance reform |
| State by state comparison of campaign finance reporting requirements |
| Election policy |
| State information |
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates and campaigns may receive from individuals and organizations, how they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political parties may contribute to campaigns. In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.
This page provides background on campaign finance regulation, lists contribution limits to state candidates and ballot measures in Michigan, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in Michigan with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in Michigan.
The information on this page pertains to candidates for state office and state ballot measures. Candidates for federal office are subject to federal campaign finance law. Candidates for local office are subject to all applicable state laws as well as any separate local campaign finance regulations.[1]
Background
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.[2] According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[3]
The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election.[4] In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged.[5][6] In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.[7]
While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections. Candidates for local office must follow any applicable state and local campaign finance regulations.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Michigan as of July 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.
| Individual | Political (PAC) committee | Independent committee | Caucus committee** | District/county political party committee | State political party committee | Corporation | Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor and Lt. Governor (with public funding) | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $750,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| Governor and Lt. Governor (without public funding) | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Secretary of State | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Attorney General | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| State Senate | $2,450 | $2,450 | $24,500 | Unlimited* | $24,500 | $24,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| State Representative | $1,225 | $1,225 | $12,250 | Unlimited* | $12,250 | $12,250 | $0 | $0 | |
| State Board of Education | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| University of Michigan Regents | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Michigan State University Trustees | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Wayne State University Governors | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Justice of the Supreme Court | $8,325 | $8,325 | $83,250 | $83,250 | $30,000 | $166,500 | $0 | $0 | |
| Ballot measures | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| Limits apply per election cycle. | |||||||||
| *A person may not contribute more than $48,875 in a calendar year to a House or Senate Caucus Committee. | |||||||||
| **A caucus committee is prohibited from making a contribution to or an expenditure on behalf of a candidate if the candidate is running against opposition in a primary or pay a debt incurred by a candidate if the debt was incurred by the candidate while running against opposition in a primary. | |||||||||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State, "State Level Office/Supreme Court Contribution Limits," accessed July 31, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Michigan Election Law, "Michigan Campaign Finance Act"
An individual is legally considered a candidate for office when one of the following occurs:[9]
- He or she files a fee, an affidavit of incumbency, or a nominating petition for an elective office
- He or she is nominated as a candidate for elective office by a political party caucus or convention and whose nomination is certified to the appropriate filing official
- He or she receives a contribution, makes an expenditure, or gives consent for another person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure with a view to bringing about the individual's nomination or election to an elective office, whether or not the specific elective office for which the individual will seek nomination or election is known at the time the contribution is received or the expenditure is made.
- He or she is an officeholder who is the subject of a recall vote.
- He or she holds an elective office, unless the officeholder is constitutionally or legally barred from seeking re-election or fails to file for re-election to that office by the applicable filing deadline.
All candidates are required to form candidate committees. Once an individual becomes a candidate, he or she is required to form a candidate committee within 10 days. Once the committee is formed, the candidate has an additional 10 days to register the committee by filing a Statement of Organization with the Michigan Secretary of State. On the Statement of Organization, the candidate must include basic personal information (such as name, office sought, etc.) and basic information about the committee, (including contact information, mailing address, treasurer and record keeper names, mailing addresses, contact information, etc.). The candidate must provide the name and address of the financial depository that will be used for committee funds. A candidate may serve as his or her own treasurer, and the treasurer may elect to fulfill the duties of the record keeper.[10][11]
Unless otherwise exempted, all candidates must file regular campaign finance disclosure statements, which include the following:[12]
- Cover page
- This includes basic information about the committee (including the state-assigned committee identification number, committee name and mailing address) candidate, and treasurer.
- Summary page
- This includes summary information and subtotals from the subsequent reporting schedules.
- Schedule 1A: Itemized Contributions
- For each contribution made to the committee during the period covered by the statement, the contributor's name and address must be noted, as well as the date and amount of the contribution and the cumulative total received from the contributor during the election cycle. If a contributor has given more than $100 in aggregate to the campaign, the contributor's occupation, employer, and business address must be noted.
- Schedule 1A-1: Itemized Other Receipts
- For other receipts (such as loans, interest payments, refunds, etc.), the name and address of the source, as well as the date, type and amount of the receipt, must be noted.
- Schedule 1-IK: Itemized In-Kind Contributions
- For in-kind contributions (such as goods or services donated or loaned to the campaign, etc.), the name and address of the contributor must be noted, as well as the type, value and date of receipt of the contribution. If the contributor has given over $100 in aggregate to the campaign, the contributor's occupation and employer must also be noted.
- Schedule 1B: Itemized Expenditures
- For each individual or business to whom the committee made a payment of more than $50 (either through a single expenditure or in aggregate during the reporting period), the recipient's name and address must be noted, as well as the purpose, date, and amount of the expenditure.
- Schedule 1B-IK: Itemized In-Kind Expenditures
- The name and address of the recipient of in-kind expenditures (such as donated goods or services, etc.) must be noted, as well as the type, date and value of the expenditure.
- Schedule 1B-G: Expenditures for Get-Out-the-Vote Activities
- For expenditures made for get-out-the-vote activities (such as busing of voters to polls, poll watchers, etc.), the name and address of the recipient must be noted, as well as the type, date and amount of expenditure.
- Schedule 1C: Incidental Office Expense Disbursements
- Only current officeholders must file this schedule, which is used to report disbursements made for incidental office expenses. Expenses must be itemized in the same fashion as all other expenditures.
- Schedule 1E: Debts and Obligations
- For debts and obligations either owed or forgiven by or to the committee, the lender or debtor must be noted, as well as the type of obligation, date and amount of each payment, cumulative payment on the debt, and outstanding balance at the close of the reporting period.
- Schedule 1F: Fund Raiser Schedule
- For each fundraising event, the date and location of the event must be noted, as well as the number of individuals attending, total contributions and receipts, and total event cost.
If the candidate committee spends or receives more than $5,000 in a calendar year, or expects to do so, the committee must file reports electronically via the Michigan Electronic Reporting and Tracking System.[13]
Each candidate must file a pre-election campaign finance compliance statement. A candidate committee that does not receive or spend in excess of $1,000 in an election, or does not expect to do so, may waive reporting requirements (though such committees must still file late contribution reports, if applicable; see below for more information on late contribution reports). Any candidate who is elected to office must file a post-election campaign finance compliance statement prior to assuming office.[14] See the table below for the reporting schedule:[15]
| Report type | Closing date of statement | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-election report | 16 days before the election | 11 days before the election |
| Post-election report | 20 days after the election | 30 days after the election |
| Annual campaign statement | December 31 | January 31 of the following calendar year |
A reporting period begins after the closing date of the most recent campaign statement filed by the committee. If the committee filing the campaign statement has not previously filed a campaign statement, the period covered shall begin on the date on which the committee was formed.[16]
If a candidate committee receives a single or cumulative contribution of $500 or more between the day following the closing date of the last campaign statement and the third day before the date of an election, the committee must file a late contribution report within 48 hours of receipt of the contribution.[17]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to Michigan's current legislative session.[18]
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Michigan can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Michigan County Clerks
Michigan Department of State, Bureau of Elections
- Richard H. Austin Building, First Floor
- 430 W. Allegan St.
- Lansing, Michigan 48918
- Phone: 800-292-5973
- Email: elections@michigan.gov
- Website: https://www.michigan.gov/sos
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
- Washington, DC 20001
- Phone: 301-563-3919
- Toll free: 1-866-747-1471
- Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov
- Website: https://www.eac.gov
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
- 1050 First Street, NE
- Washington, DC 20463
- Telephone: (202)-694-1100
- Toll-free: 1-800-424-9530
- Email: info@fec.gov
- Website: http://www.fec.gov/
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Michigan campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance regulation
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Michigan
- Michigan
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Campaign Finance Enforcement," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.203," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.221," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.224," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Instructions and Forms - Candidate Committees," accessed July 30, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.218," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.233," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Michigan Campaign Finance Candidate Manual," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.225," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Michigan Code of Laws, "Section 169.232," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Bills are organized by most recent action. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
