Duggan's Final Campaign Report Reveals Why It Was Final

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/28/2026) Mike Duggan's independent campaign for governor had little trouble finding people willing to write large checks. The problem was finding enough people willing to write checks at all.

On the surface, Duggan's final campaign finance report, released late Monday, showed favorable numbers. By the time he dropped out, Duggan had raised nearly $5.9 million for his entire campaign, compared to Jocelyn Benson, who had raised nearly $10 million and John James (R-Shelby Township), who had raised more than $6.5 million. Seems comparable.

Though when the campaign contributions for the period between January 1 and May 21 were averaged out, Benson was bringing in more than $12,000 per day, with an average contribution size of just under $95 from over 18,000 contributions.

James was bringing in nearly $10,500 per day, with an average contribution size of nearly $88 from nearly 17,000 contributions.

Duggan was at just over $6,000 per day with an average contribution of $650 from just more than 1,300 contributions.

“It really shines some light on Duggan’s candidacy, which is to say, he was extremely well known and well liked in the political and business world in the state of Michigan, but never really got much traction with voters early on,” said Western Michigan University political science professor John Clark.

Former Duggan campaign communications director Andrea Bitely pointed out that the candidate mentioned in his final communications that fundraising, along with the sagging poll numbers, were the reasons he pulled the plug. The final report puts numbers behind the problem Duggan described.

Unlike Benson and James, Duggan didn't have a national network of party loyalists who would write numerous low-dollar checks. Of James's 12,518 unique contributors from Jan. 1 to July 19, 36% came from Michigan. For Benson, 60% of her contributions came from inside Michigan, but that's a departure from previous reports that had shown more than half her contributors lived outside the state.

A total of 1,057 individual contributors gave to Duggan between Jan. 1 and May 21. Of those, 88% were Michiganders, continuing the trend seen in 2025. Duggan's donor base remained overwhelmingly Michigan-based.

“It’s the curse of the independent candidate not having a well-established, tried and true donor base to go to,” said Oakland University political science professor David Dulio.

He said there is a finite number of donors in the political well, and if he had someone willing to write a big $50 million check, it may have ended up differently. But, it's a heavy lift for an independent candidate in statewide races, because the parties have extensive built-in donor bases built out across the country.

Clark said that, contrasting with Benson and James in a partisan state like Michigan, really highlighted the long shot of an independent statewide candidate. He pointed out that Duggan has a good resume and a good story to tell. He even pointed to how the overall fundraising was looking good for the candidate.

He said that if Duggan had stayed in the race, it would have been a completely different outcome.

“We don’t see very many campaigns in very many states for high office where you’ve got three candidates that are all experienced and credible,” he said. “If Mike Duggan can’t do it, that means it’s going to be really hard for somebody else to do it.”

Clark said at the beginning of the year, it even looked like the best time for an independent to run and have a chance, until the primary machine revved up and the financial support dried up.

He wondered what it would have looked like had Duggan run for the Democratic nomination, rather than as an independent.

“That’s probably the race that we’d be talking about leading up to primary day, because he would have been a very credible Democrat running for the Democratic nomination for governor, but he chose a different path and that path didn’t work out for him,” Clark said.

Saginaw Spirit Vice President Jimmy Greene, however, believes what happened to Duggan isn't necessarily the same script that will happen to a future independent candidate.

He said it is possible that Duggan just got in too early and ran too loudly out of the gate, and the mistakes of his campaign were going to be used as a guide for those independents running in the future.

“I think you’re going to see formidable independent candidacies come out of the ashes of this,” Green said.