(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/25/2024) House Democrats raised the most among the Legislature's four caucus committees for the April campaign finance period, collecting more than $2.2 million from Jan. 1 to April 20. On the other hand, House Republicans had the most money left over, with more than $5.38 million on the balance sheet.
The Michigan House Democratic Fund acquired 22 contributions during the April quarter that reached the maximum of $48,875 that can be donated to a House or Senate caucus committee. However, 10 of those maximum itemized contributions came from candidate committees or political action committees (PACs) that clearly belonged to House Democratic caucus members, like from the Joe Tate Leadership PAC, the Farhat for Michigan PAC, Friends of Jamie Churches candidate committee and the Friends of John Fitzgerald candidate committee.
Meanwhile, for the House Republican Campaign Committee, one of its 15 maximum contributions from Jan. 1 to April 20 obviously came from a caucus member, with House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) contributing $48,875 from his candidate committee, Matt Hall for State Representative.
The Michigan House Democratic Fund received 657 itemized contributions during the April quarter, and House Republicans received 139 that contributed to the more than $1.34 million the House GOP caucus raised during this period.
"Supporters across the state have stepped up in the past few months to help us build a solid foundation to expand our majority in November," said House Democratic Campaign Chair Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) in a press release. "Overwhelmingly, we're seeing the Michiganders don't want extremism in their legislature, they want lawmakers who put in the work and get things done for our communities."
House Republicans, however, are commemorating their $60,366 cash-on-hand advantage over the remaining $5.326 million balance that the House Democratic fund has leftover.
While in the minority during the April quarter of 2022, House Democrats had $2 million less in cash-on-hand in comparison to House Republicans, and were similarly behind Republicans in terms of cash-on-hand by $2.77 million during the April 2020 quarter. Ultimately, some Republicans might make the case that it's interesting for a minority caucus to have more cash leftover, even though Democrats currently hold the gavels in the Legislature.
"Because of our proven track record, we will have the resources we need to get our message out in the months ahead. House Republicans are ready to win, and we are doing the work every day to earn the trust and votes of people across our state," said House Republican Campaign Chair Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland) in a press release.
The average money raised by the House Republican and Democratic caucuses during the April quarter of an election year has grown by more than 281 percent from 2016 to 2024, with the average being $467,235 in 2016 to $1.78 million in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Senate Democratic Fund raised more than $1 million in this period and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee raised $584,558. The Senate Democratic caucus has $2.513 million in cash-on-hand and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee has $2.507 million leftover on the balance sheet.
