Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations, how often they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political entities may contribute to campaigns.
While campaign finance is not the only factor in electoral outcomes, successful fundraising can provide a candidate with advantages during a campaign. Fundraising can also indicate party momentum.
This article lists top fundraisers among Michigan statewide officeholders and candidates, overall and by party. It is based on campaign finance reports that officeholders in and candidates for statewide elected offices submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State. It includes activity between Jan. 1, 2022, and June 30, 2022.
Statewide political positions are typically offices in the executive and judicial branches of government rather than the legislative, and they most often represent all citizens in the state, rather than those in a particular district.
Top Michigan statewide fundraisers by party
The top fundraisers among Michigan statewide officeholders and candidates are shown below. Individuals are presented with the office that they are on the ballot for in 2022, if applicable. If no office is indicated, the person was an incumbent and was not on the ballot in 2022.
In the Democratic Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Gretchen Whitmer (Governor) – $7,824,103
- Katherine White (University of Michigan Board of Regents) – $9,903
In the Republican Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Kevin Rinke (Governor) – $8,351,847
- Perry Johnson (Governor) – $7,669,851
- James Craig (Governor) – $1,241,610
- Tudor Dixon (Governor) – $906,864
- Garrett Soldano (Governor) – $677,007
Fundraising totals
Overall, Democratic officeholders and candidates raised $7.8 million in this period. Republican officeholders and candidates raised $19.9 million. Combined, all statewide officeholders and candidates in the Jan. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022, filing period raised $27.7 million.
These were the only Democratic statewide executive fundraisers during this reporting period. The five largest Republican fundraisers were responsible for 95 percent of all Republican statewide officeholder and candidate fundraising.
The table below provides additional data from the campaign finance reports from the top 10 fundraisers during this period.
| TOP 10 FUNDRAISERS – Michigan STATEWIDE OFFICEHOLDERS AND CANDIDATES (Jan. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party Affiliation | Office Sought | Raised | Spent |
| Kevin Rinke | Republican Party | Governor | $8,351,847 | $4,787,011 |
| Governor Gretchen Whitmer | Democratic Party | Governor | $7,824,103 | $4,350,790 |
| Perry Johnson | Republican Party | Governor | $7,669,851 | $13,900,839 |
| James Craig | Republican Party | Governor | $1,241,610 | $1,981,449 |
| Tudor Dixon | Republican Party | Governor | $906,864 | $614,468 |
| Garrett Soldano | Republican Party | Governor | $677,007 | $748,635 |
| Donna Brandenburg | Republican Party | Governor | $396,551 | $395,072 |
| Ryan Kelley | Republican Party | Governor | $185,251 | $154,490 |
| Michael Markey Jr. | Republican Party | Governor | $175,917 | $172,557 |
| Ralph Rebandt | Republican Party | Governor | $151,092 | $152,253 |
Campaign finance reporting periods
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that candidate PACs submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.
| Report Name | Report Due Date |
| 2022 Annual/January | 1/31/2022 |
| 2022 April (PACs) | 4/25/2022 |
| 2022 July (PACs) | 7/25/2022 |
| 2022 Post-Primary | 9/1/2022 |
| 2022 Pre-General | 10/28/2023 |
| 2022 Post-General | 12/8/2022 |
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.