LANSING (Dec. 3, 2020) — This election season, mailboxes were filling up. And much of the mail appeared to come from just two sources: Michigan’s Democratic and Republican parties.
Through the middle of October, the federal account for the Michigan Democratic Party reported spending $9.7 million on political mail for federal candidates, the vast majority supporting Biden. The account for the Michigan Republican Party spent $5.7 million. It’s more than triple the amount of any prior election, according to Federal Election Commission filings analyzed by Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
MCFN repeatedly found mailers supporting both presidential candidates, while paid for by the state parties, had also been received by voters in numerous other states. That’s because in most instances the parties were using money raised by the campaigns to pay the same mailing firms those campaigns had also hired.
Vague FEC rules and a 2014 supreme court decision meant campaigns could use Michigan’s state parties to bypass contribution limits and spend unlimited amounts on political mail with the messages they tailor.
For the full report, click here.
