Unprecedented outside spending and self-financing in Michigan’s 13th District Democratic primary

The Democratic primary race in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District has attracted unprecedented outside spending and self-financing, a new OpenSecrets analysis found. Outside groups spending on the race have poured nearly $5 million into boosting state Sen. Adam Hollier (D) and attacking state Rep. Shri Thanedar (D), who loaned his campaign about $5.2 million as of June 30.

Hollier and Thanedar are two of nine Democrats vying for the nomination in the Aug. 2 primary, a race that is still wide open according to polling released Sunday by Target Insyght. The Democratic primary winner will face off against sole Republican primary candidate Martell Bivings and will likely be the new representative of the solidly Democratic, majority-Black district that covers most of Detroit and parts of surrounding counties.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D–Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, currently represents Michigan’s 13th District. But recent redistricting shifted her to the 12th Congressional District after Michigan dropped from 14 to 13 seats in the U.S. House following the 2020 census. There is no incumbent running in the 13th District race, as Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D–Mich.) announced she is retiring at the end of her current term. 

Outside groups have spent $3.5 million to support Hollier and an additional $1.5 million opposing his self-funding opponent. Thanedar – who founded Avomeen Analytical Services, a chemical testing laboratory acquired in February 2021 by Element Materials Technologies – previously contributed $10.3 million to his unsuccessful 2018 campaign for Michigan governor.

Outside spending in Michigan’s 13th District is up 2,900% from just over $172,000 during the 2020 general election. Prior to the 2022 midterms, the most outside money spent for or against a single candidate in Michigan’s 13th District was during the 2012 election cycle when outside groups spent $153,000 to boost former Rep. John Conyers (D–Mich.). 

“I’ve never seen in Detroit a congressional race having this kind of outside money,” Jonathan Kinloch, chair of the district’s Democratic Party, told The Detroit News. 

Candidates are also self-financing at a rate the district has never seen before. The only federal candidate to report loaning their campaign money in the last decade was Don Eason, an independent candidate on the 2020 general election ballot who loaned his campaign $16,500.

But this year is different. Thanedar accounts for the vast majority of self-financing in the district’s Democratic primary, but several other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination also poured tens of thousands of dollars into their campaigns. 

Former Michigan state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (D) loaned her campaign $80,000 of the $287,000 it raised, and civil rights lawyer Michael Griffie self-financed $10,750 of the $377,000 his campaign raised through June 30. Portia Roberson, the president and CEO of the nonprofit organization Focus: HOPE, loaned her campaign $55,800 of the $459,000 it has raised. Lorrie Rutledge, a Detroit native who manufactures and distributes natural products, contributed $3,990 to her campaign, which raised $7,755. No other candidate in the Democratic primary reported self-financing as of June 30.

Pro-Israel super PAC pours $3.2 million into the Democratic primary

Hollier told OpenSecrets that the sudden rush of outside money supporting him was “a surprise” that leveled the playing field between his donor-driven campaign and huge self-financing from his competitors, namely Thanedar.

“This isn’t a thing where some money is being parachuted in, and it is the tidal wave that is turning an election. It is a thing where money is being spent to match the money that parachuted in already,” Hollier said.

Thanedar told the Detroit News that Hollier should denounce outside money from a super PAC tied to major Republican donors he describes as “interfering” in Democratic primaries, referring to the $3.2 million that United Democracy Project — a super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — poured into the primary race. United Democracy Project, which did not return OpenSecrets’ request for comment, spent over $2.5 million supporting Hollier and $693,000 attacking Thanedar. 

POLITICO reported Monday that United Democracy Project is the top spender in Democratic primaries so far this election cycle and OpenSecrets confirmed the super PAC is the second biggest outside spender overall of the 2022 cycle to date. AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, has contributed $8.5 million of the $21.5 million raised by the United Democracy Project. 

United Democracy Project has also poured about $3.2 million into another key race boosting Rep. Haley Stevens (D–Mich.) in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. The super PAC spent another $174,000 attacking her opponent, Jewish Democratic incumbent Rep. Andy Levin (D–Mich.). The two incumbents are forced to face off after Michigan lost one House seat.

Levin comes from a long line of Jewish-American political leaders including his father, former U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D–Mich.), and his uncle, the late U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D–Mich.). The Michigan state representative also proposed legislation to advance a two-state solution in Israel, favors conditioning aid to Israel and criticized Israel’s “creeping annexation” of Palestinian territory. His campaign condemned United Democracy Project’s outside spending as “corrupting” Democratic primaries.

Some of United Democracy Project’s top contributors include GOP mega donors such as Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, who each contributed $1 million. Democratic donor and Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban also contributed $1 million. 

AIPAC PAC, the political arm of AIPAC, called Hollier “an advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.”

“We have engaged in primaries where there is an unambiguous choice between a pro-Israel candidate and a detractor,” Marshall Wittmann, director of communications and marketing for AIPAC told OpenSecrets. Thanedar co-sponsored a resolution in May 2021 that would urge Congress to halt aid to Israel, which the resolution described as an “apartheid state” responsible for “countless human rights violations” against Palestinians. He told Jewish Insider the resolution was “a mistake” on Monday.

Other outside groups spending big money in Michigan’s 13th District

AIPAC is not the only outside spending group that has poured money into Michigan’s 13th District supporting Hollier and attacking Thanedar.

VoteVets, a Carey committee that supports progressive veteran candidates at the federal, state and local level, endorsed Hollier and spent $760,000 against Thanedar. Hollier, a former volunteer firefighter, graduated with distinction from officer candidate school in Fort Benning in 2016 with the rank of second lieutenant.

The committee used that money to launch an ad criticizing Thanedar for his voting record on gun control, abortion rights and jobs.

Protect Our Future PAC, which was founded by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried to support candidates “who will be champions for pandemic prevention,” also reported a $957,000 two ad buys boosting Hollier in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. 

“Adam Hollier’s district was among the hardest-hit early in the pandemic, and he has promised to ensure that resources are available for medical professionals and that free testing and vaccinations remain available to all,” a spokesperson for Protect Our Future PAC told OpenSecrets in a written statement.

Bankman-Fried, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, has poured $27 million into Protect Our Future PAC this cycle, including $4 million in June according to July monthly filings with the FEC. Currently 30 years old, Bankman-Fried was too young to vote when the Supreme Court issued its controversial Citizens United decision removing limits on independent expenditures.

Protect Our Future PAC spent outside money to support 12 candidates through June. Eleven of those candidates won their primaries, as previously reported by OpenSecrets.

Despite major outside spending and self-financing, polling by Target Insyght released Sunday shows the race remains tight. Thanedar and Hollier are polling in first and third with 22% and 16%, respectively. Seventeen percent of voters told Target Insyght they planned to vote for Roberson, and no other candidate broke 10% in the latest poll.

Hollier rapidly improved in the polls, up from 6% in May to 16% on Sunday. United Democracy Project started spending money on ads supporting Hollier on June 28 and Protect Our Future PAC distributed its first ad on July 19.

Sixteen percent of voters said they were undecided with just over one week until the primary, the Target Insyght poll found.