Michigan Politics
Granholm Has Strong Finances of Her Own
By George Weeks

Republican businessman Dick DeVos has the deepest-ever pockets of any candidate for governor of Michigan, and his family is second to none among GOP contributors.

But fret not for Gov. Jennifer Granholm. A Granholm-DeVos matchup would hardly be Little Orphan Annie vs. Daddy Warbucks.

At $8 million, Granholm, who did not take public funding in her 2002 Democratic primary battle, far out-raised all other gubernatorial candidates that year. Look what she has already raised and spent for the next election that is 16 months down the road, what she's doing to raise more, and what she has contributed to other Democrats:

• According to the watchdog Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN), Granholm "has raised $2.6 million in her campaign account and increased its balance by $900,000 to $1,325,230. In the process she has spent $1.7 million, of which $1,175,000 counts against the $2 million spending limit for a candidate who accepts public funding for the 2006 primary."

That makes it virtually certain that she'll again decline primary campaign public funding, even though she's not likely to have serious competition for another nomination.

All this underscores the broken condition of the gubernatorial public financing system: The spending limits are too low for candidates, and there's no limit on all of the independent expenditures that help the candidates--totaling $13.5 million in the 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

MCFN Executive Director Rich Robinson said of 2002: "There is no prohibition against coordinating those efforts with a candidate committee, so the idea of insulating the candidates from the influence of big, special interest contributors was soundly defeated. Almost certainly, the same will be true in 2006."

• Granholm is accelerating finance efforts through her "G4 Team," a rah-rah bit standing for "Good Government, Go Granholm."

Next up is her effort to lure more "maxers," those who make the maximum $3,400 contribution. She plans to host a July 11 fundraiser at the Detroit Athletic Club, where such folks can watch the nationally televised Home Run Derby portion of baseball All-Star festivities.

In a letter asking each member of her finance committee to bring a new maxer to the All-Star party, her headquarters played the DeVos card:

"With the election just over a year away, and having a challenger facing off against us with a seemingly inexhaustible amount of funding, we need you…to 'step up to the plate' to bring the Governor one step closer to re-election."

Granholm also will have a fundraiser during the Detroit River boat races, and her traditional "Sweet September" biggie in Grand Rapids--DeVos territory.

• The Granholm Leadership Fund, her political action committee to help other Democrats, raised $464,191 for the 2004 election--second only to Republican Attorney General Mike Cox's $675,959 among the PACs of elected officials.

Her $228,000 contribution to the Michigan Democratic Party was second only to $404,700 from the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association.

Granholm's PAC also made $5,000 contributions to a dozen or so winning state House candidates in 2004.

Now Granholm is concentrating on raising big bucks for her own campaign.

George Weeks is the political columnist for The Detroit News and is syndicated by Superior Features.