Just over a week away from Primary, candidates and campaigns opened their finances. Deadlines for campaigns to report their finances came Friday and Monday, depending on the type of campaign.
This gives the public insight into the money the campaigns have raised, where it came from and how it is spent.
“You’d rather have more money than not,” said Adrian Hemond of Grassroots Midwest.
This can be seen when you look inside the campaign finance information on the Secretary of State’s website. Each candidate now indicates how they got their money and where they are going.
“You’ll see a lot of spend on things like direct mail, digital ads, signage, billboards,” Hemond said, “For campaigns that have a lot of money, you’ll see spend on television and radio advertisements.
This can give you an idea of how the candidate is doing or what support they have. In a midterm election with a Democrat in the White House, Republicans should have a financial advantage. It didn’t necessarily work.
“It’s frankly shocking,” Hemond said, “that in seven potentially competitive state Senate races, the Democrat is elevating the Republican in all seven. It’s shocking.
Money is not everything. Betsy Coffia of Traverse City is one of the biggest fundraisers of all home racing. She reported that $186,000 had already been raised.
“She’s got a lot of money so she’ll be competitive,” Hemond said, “But the president is really unpopular right now, the economy isn’t in great shape and so she’s going to have a very tough election there- In a seat she has run many times before, in better surroundings, and without success.
Reports also show how much the candidates are spending on themselves, guys like Kevin Rinke and Perry Johnson are self-funded and when it’s over they can pay themselves back with whatever’s left over or donate the rest.
“They are allowed to make political contributions with him,” Hemond said, “within the legal limits of their type of committee.”
To view state campaign finance reports, go to this LINK.
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