Lansing-area state reps winning the money race

LANSING - With just more than a week to go before the Aug. 2 primary, incumbent state representatives in Mid-Michigan are far outraising their challengers.

In every regional race where an incumbent is on the ballot, the sitting rep has raised significantly more money than their opponent, according to campaign finance reports posted online Friday. Nine challengers didn't even file a report because they'd signed waivers stating they planned to raise and spend less than $1,000.

The most money has been raised in Eaton County's 71st District, which was Michigan's closest contest in 2014 and where neither candidate has a primary opponent this summer.

Tom Barrett, the Republican who unseated Democrat Theresa Abed two years ago by a mere 148 votes, is the best-positioned incumbent in the race, with more than $82,000 in the bank as of the July 17 close of the reporting period. Abed, meanwhile, is the  best-positioned challenger, with more than $31,000 in the bank.

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Since Jan. 1, Barrett had raised about $51,000 to Abed's more than $33,000. But, in a sign of Democrats' hope that they can reclaim that seat, one of Abed's top donors was the campaign of House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel.

Barrett's top donor was the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

The region's overall top fundraiser was state Rep. Brett Roberts, R-Eaton Township, who's raised more than $56,000 since the start of the year but whose campaign reported more than $65,000 in debt. The farmer and business owner loaned significant sums to his first campaign in 2014.

Roberts is being challenged on Aug. 2 by Robert Commet, the owner of a chain of Jackson County pharmacies and other businesses. Commet counted more than $13,000 in newspaper ads that he paid for as in-kind donations to his campaign.

Those donations made Commet the top donor in the region, but he was followed closely by the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association Political  Action Committee, which was Roberts' top donor.

The Beer & Wine Wholesalers gave a total of $13,100 to regional House candidates, according to the reports, including:

• more than $9,000 to Roberts, 
• $4,000 to state Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, who is unopposed in the primary and is seeking his third term,
• $4,000 to  state Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, who is seeking his third term and facing two challengers in the primary, attorney Eric Nelson and former economic development worker Chris Davenport, and 
• $3,000 to Republican Julie Calley, the Ionia County Commissioner and wife of Lt. Gov. Brian Calley who is running for the 87th District seat that will be vacated by state Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, because of term limits 

A notable donation came from Gov. Rick Snyder's Relentless Positive Action PAC to incumbent state Rep. Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt Township. Leonard, who is seeking his third term, has been rumored as a possible House speaker. He's being challenged in the primary by Charles Truesdell, the owner of a construction company.

The area's top spender was Republican Ben Frederick, the Owosso mayor who is one of four Republicans and four Democrats vying to replace term-limited state Rep. Ben Glardon, R-Owosso. Frederick has spent nearly $54,000 so far this year. The next-closest spender was Republican Hartmann Aue, who's spent more than $21,000.

Overall, a total of nearly $420,000 was raised and nearly $262,000 was spent in the reporting period by the 29 candidates competing in the eight state House districts that cover the region.

Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 or jhinkley@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter@JustinHinkley. Sign up for his email newsletter, SoM Weekly, at on.lsj.com/somsignup.