Michigan Gov. Whitmer receives $26 million, with five donors giving $250,000 each


Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is the number one fundraiser in Michigan state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. According to the most recent campaign finance reports made to the Michigan Secretary of State, the governor received $26,046,921 in total contributions and spent $20,109,935 between Jan. 1, 2021 and Sept. 1, 2022. Whitmer is running for re-election in 2022.

Gov. Whitmer is a member of the Democratic Party and first assumed office in 2019.

Contributions to Gov. Whitmer

Of the $26 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 8.7 percent came from the top 10 donors.

Top Donors to Gov. Whitmer (1/1/2021 – 9/1/2022)

RankTotal AmountDonor NameDonor Type
1.$250,000.00Jay PritzkerINDIVIDUAL
2.$250,000.00Mark J BernsteinINDIVIDUAL
3.$250,000.00Patricia StrykerINDIVIDUAL
4.$250,000.00Ronda StrykerINDIVIDUAL
5.$250,000.00Stacy SchustermanINDIVIDUAL
6.$100,000.00Heidi and Christopher StolteINDIVIDUAL
7.$100,000.00James OffieldINDIVIDUAL
8.$100,000.00Karla T JurvetsonINDIVIDUAL
9.$100,000.00Richard WhitmerINDIVIDUAL
10.$100,000.00Sharif HusseinINDIVIDUAL

Expenditures by Gov. Whitmer

On the expenditures side, Gov. Whitmer reported $20.1 million, with 7.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. 

Top Expenditures by Gov. Whitmer (1/1/2021 – 9/1/2022)

RankTotal AmountPayee NamePayee Type
1.$3,558,365.61Democratic State Central CommitteeENTITY
2.$3,554,558.32Run the World DigitalENTITY
3.$3,017,546.77Gmmb IncENTITY
4.$2,181,977.82Paychex IncENTITY
5.$462,301.54Impact ResearchENTITY
6.$446,820.00WDLV TVENTITY
7.$288,850.00WJBK TVENTITY
8.$285,083.08Clark Hill Political Action CommENTITY
9.$267,547.34Capital Strategies GroupENTITY
10.$250,000.00Mark J BernsteinINDIVIDUAL

How Gov. Whitmer’s fundraising compares to other governors

Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. Here is how fundraising by Michigan Gov. Whitmer compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022:

Fundraising reported by 11 U.S. governors in the 2022 election cycle

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Michigan PACs submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Name of ReportReporting PeriodDeadline
2021 Annual1/1/21 – 12/31/211/31/2022
2022 April (PACs)1/1/22 – 4/20/224/25/2022
2022 July (PACs)4/21/22 – 7/20/227/25/2022
2022 Post-Primary7/21/22 – 8/22/229/1/2022
2022 Pre-General8/23/22 – 10/23/2210/28/2022
2022 Post-General10/24/22 – 11/29/2212/8/2022
2022 Annual1/1/22 – 12/31/221/31/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.