A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Campaign Finance 2012 Descending into Dark Money The Michigan Campaign Finance Network is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts research and provides public education on money in Michigan politics. Board of Directors John R. Chamberlin Eva Garza Dewaelsche Jan C. Dolan Patricia L. Donath John M. Koval H. Lynn Jondahl John P. Mayer Alma Wheeler Smith Rich Robinson, Executive Director © June 2013 by Michigan Campaign Finance Network Data and information may be used for public education with attribution. This report was researched and written by Rich Robinson. The work of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network is sustained by voluntary contributions from concerned Michigan citizens and the generous support of the Joyce Foundation of Chicago. This project was made possible by the Joyce Foundation. Michigan Campaign Finance Network 600 W. St. Joseph, Ste. 3G, Lansing, MI 48933 Phone: (517) 482-7198 | Email: [email protected] | Web: www.mcfn.org A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Campaign Finance :: 2012 Table of Contents Forward .....................................................................3 Michigan Senate .......................................................22 Table 14. Fundraising by Michigan Senators’ Candidate Federal Overview ........................................................4 Committees, 2011-2012 Table 1. Summary of Federal Campaign Finances, 2004-2012 Constitutional Executives / 527 Committees ...............23 Michigan Presidential .................................................6 Table 15. Fundraising by Michigan Constitutional Executives’ Table 2. Michigan Presidential Primary Television Advertising, February Candidate Committees, 2011-2012; Table 16. Fundraising by 2012; Table 3. Michigan Presidential Television Advertising, 2012 Michigan Constitutional Executives’ 527 Committees U.S. House of Representatives - Michigan.......................8 Political Parties’ State Accounts ..................................24 Table 4. Michigan U.S. House General Election Candidates’ Table 17. Michigan Republican Party State Account Campaign Fundraising, 2012 Cycle; Table 5. Major Independent Spenders Finance Summary, 2008-2012; Table 18. Michigan Democratic Party in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, 2012 State Account Campaign Finance Summary, 2008-2012 U.S. Senate - Michigan ............................................... 11 Political Action Committees .......................................26 Table 6. Michigan U.S. Senate General Election Candidates’ Table 19. Top 150 Michigan PACs, 2011-2012 Fundraising; Table 7. Independent Spending in Michigan’s U.S. Senate General Election, 2012 Michigan Supreme Court .......................................... 31 Table 20. Michigan Supreme Court Campaign Finance Summary State Overview ..........................................................12 2000-2012; Table 21. Michigan Supreme Court Candidates’ Table 8. Summary of Michigan State Campaign Finances, 2012 Cycle Campaign Finance Summary, 2012; Table 22. Reported Supreme Ballot Committees .................................................... 14 Court Independent Expenditures, 2012; Table 23. Unreported Table 9 Summary of Funds Raised by 2012 Michigan Ballot Committees Supreme Court Television Issue Advertising, 2012 Michigan House of Representatives ............................. 17 Court of Appeals .......................................................34 Table 10. Statistical Profile of Michigan House Campaigns, 2012; Table 11. Most Expensive Michigan House Campaigns, 2012 Cycle; Circuit, District, Probate Courts ................................35 Table 12. Issue Advertising In Michigan House Campaigns, 2012 Cycle Table 24. Summary of Circuit, District and Probate Court Campaigns, 2012; Table 25. Oakland Co. 6th Circuit Court Candidates’ Campaign Education Boards .....................................................20 Finance Summary, 2012; Table 26. 6th Circuit Court Reported Table 13. Campaign Finance Summary for Candidates for Independent Expenditures, 2012; Table 27. 6th Circuit Court State Education Boards, 2012 Unreported TV Issue Advertising End the Issue Ad Deception ........................................ 37 Appendices Appendix A. List of Top Independent Spenders in Federal Campaigns, 2012 Cycle .................................................................................................................39 Appendix B. Top Contributors to 2012 Ballot Committees .......................................................................................................................................................40 Appendix C. Summary of Michigan House Candidates’ Campaign Finances, 2012 Cycle ........................................................................................................48 Appendix D. Top Contributors to Winning Michigan House Candidates, 2012 Cycle ................................................................................................................54 Appendix E. Top Contributors to Winning Education Board Candidates, 2012 Cycle................................................................................................................73 Appendix F. Top Contributors to Michigan Senators, 2011-2012 .............................................................................................................................................75 Appendix G. Top Contributors to Michigan Constitutional Executives, 2011-2012 ..................................................................................................................80 Appendix H. Contributors to Constitutional Executives’ 527 Committees, 2011-2012 ............................................................................................................82 Appendix I. Top Contributors to Michigan Political Parties’ State Committees, 2012 Cycle .....................................................................................................84 Appendix J. Michigan Officeholders’ Leadership PACs, 2012 Cycle ..........................................................................................................................................86 Appendix K. Top Contributors to Largest Officeholders’ Leadership PACs, 2012 Cycle .............................................................................................................89 Appendix L. Top Contributors to Legislative Caucuses’ PACs, 2012 Cycle ..................................................................................................................................92 Appendix M. Top Contributors to Winning Michigan Supreme Court Candidates, 2012 Cycle .................................................................................................94 Appendix N. Contested Circuit Court Campaign Finance Summaries, 2012 Cycle ...................................................................................................................96 Appendix O. Contested District Court Campaign Finance Summaries, 2012 Cycle ..................................................................................................................99 Appendix P. Contested Probate Court Campaign Finance Summaries, 2012 Cycle ................................................................................................................101 Appendix Q. Top Individual Contributors to Michigan Political Committees, 2012 Cycle .......................................................................................................103 2 A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Campaign Finance :: 2012 3 Forward This is the seventh in the biennial series of Citizen’s Guides to Michigan Campaign Finance. The Citizen’s Guide is a data book that is designed to be a quick reference on Michigan political campaigns and the principal donors to officeholders, officeholders’ PACs and the political parties. The emphasis is on state campaigns, as opposed to federal, because there are excellent online resources available about federal campaigns, but no other comprehensive information products about Michigan state campaigns. Since the Supreme Court of the United States published its opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, there has been increased public attention on political spending that cannot be traced to its sources. The reader is advised to bear in mind that unaccountable spending in Michigan state campaigns is proportionally much greater than it is in federal campaigns, and such spending in Michigan state campaigns predates Citizens United by a decade. Since 2000, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network has compiled records of more than $88 million in candidate-focused television ads that were not reported to the Michigan Bureau of Elections. Such unreported spending has become a major feature of every hotly contested Michigan state election. We hope this Citizen’s Guide will help you to better understand political and policy processes in Michigan, and that it will enable you to be more effective in exercising your civic responsibility of government oversight. 4 Descending into Dark Money Federal Overview The 2012 federal election was largely a status quo Independent spending by the National Republican election. President Barack Obama won reelection, Congressional Committee topped the Democratic although his popular vote and Electoral College margins Congressional Campaign Committee in 2012, $64.7 were narrower than 2008. In 2008, Obama won the million to $60.5 million. At the same time, independent popular vote, 69.5 million to 59.9