I expected to see a difference in the amount of money raised by Paul Welday and Richard Lerner in the Michigan House District 37 primary, but the pre-primary campaign finance statements filed July 25 were still quite an eye-opener.
Welday has thus fair raised from Political Action Committees more than $15,000, which is greater than the total amount Lerner has raised from all sources ($12,303). Welday’s largest contributor, the Michigan Chamber PAC, donated $5,000 – only two judicial candidates in the Fourth District Court of Appeals race have received larger donations ($10,000 for one, $9,521.50 for the other) from the lobbying arm of the state’s largest business advocate. The owner of Mitchell Interactive, one of Welday’s many business associates, serves on the Chamber’s Board of Directors. Welday also sat at the top of the contributions list for Attorney General Mike Cox’s PAC, right under a Supreme Court judge candidate committee. One of Welday’s partners in Renaissance Strategies joined the company immediately after serving as director of constituent relations for Cox’s office. Here’s a complete list of Welday’s PAC contributors:
Mi. Association of Builders & Contractors PAC $500
Great Lakes Education Project $500
Michigan Chamber PAC $5,000
Cox 5200 Club $2,000
Realtors PAC of Michigan $2,000
Auto Dealers of Mi PAC $1,000
UPS PAC $1,000
Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $1,000
Strobl & Sharp PC PAC $500
Mi Beer & Wine Wholesalers PAC $500
Martin J. Knollenberg Lead PAC $500
Mi District Judges Ed Fund PAC $400
The Great Southwest Fund $300
AT&T Michigan PAC $250
Chrysler Service Contracts PAC $200
Miller Canfield PAC $100
Lerner has received funds from one political action committee, CAPPAC, formed by the owners of a pension management company called CAP Advisors, who contributed the princely sum of $250. The company is headquartered in Northville, but the owners are Farmington residents – as are all but about a dozen of Lerner’s 57 contributors. Only 33 of Welday’s 250 or so contributors are local residents, and they account for just $5,400 of the $58,190 in contributions.
Other notes from the numbers: Lerner has dropped $8,750 into his own campaign; Welday, $3,692. Discounting their own contributions, the average contribution to Welday’s campaign has been $219, and to Lerner’s, $62. Welday has spent $23,683 thus far; Lerner has spent $10,475.
It should also be noted that the Democratic challenger in this race, Vicki Barnett, has thus far collected PAC donations from 14 organizations of the 169 total donations she has received. More about that when the “real” race is on. One observation: Some of the same PACs donating to Barnett’s campaign also donated to Welday’s. Interesting.
–Joni Hubred-Golden
Michigan Woman Blogger
