Candidates who rejected monopoly utility money, took on DTE & Consumers win primaries

Results show utility influence waning, PAC money becoming a liability

LANSING – Lawmakers and candidates for office who rejected donations from the state’s two monopoly utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, performed exceptionally well in this week’s primaries, demonstrating yet again that taking money from the two corporations is becoming a political liability.

• Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, whose platform calls for greater utility accountability and lower energy bills, cruised to a commanding victory over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson with 83% of the vote.

• Abdul El-Sayed, who has frequently blasted DTE and Consumers and made refusing their money a key litmus test, narrowly held on to defeat Rep. Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate nomination.

• Donavan McKinney – endorsed by the national League of Conservation Voters and a key champion of the Ratepayer Bill of Rights, beat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in Detroit’s CD-13 by running hard against DTE’s constant rate hikes and poor service.

• Natalie Price, a state representative who made utility accountability a hallmark of her tenure and campaign, beat her opponent by a whopping 65%-27% for the SD-10 seat, overcoming union endorsements and outside spending to win.

• Chris Gilmer-Hill, a Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition staffer, was a surprise winner of HD-08 by making DTE a liability for state Rep. Helena Scott (the former House Energy chair) and repeatedly raking her over the coals for taking their money and not standing up to them (49% to 43%).

• Johanna Whaley, a first-time candidate, is poised to become the first transgender woman to serve in the state House in HD-02 after running a relentless campaign focused on the utilities, poor service, and opposition to data centers that surged her to a 56%-34% victory over former lawmaker Frank Liberati.

 

“These victories and others up-and-down the ballot make clear that taking money from DTE and Consumers is a liability, and candidates win when they make skyrocketing energy bills and poor service a central issue because they are meeting voters where they’re at,” said Bob Allison, deputy director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Over the past year, more than 150 sitting lawmakers and candidates have taken our challenge to refuse money from monopoly utility companies – so this is just the beginning of a reform wave washing over Michigan politics.”

Among the 15 State Senate races that lean Democratic enough where they are decided in August, previously only two No Utility Money Challenge takers held those seats. After the Primary, at least 8 of the 15 Senators occupying those seats are refusing to take DTE and Consumers’ money.

Among the 43 State House seats that lean Democratic enough that they are decided in August, just 17 seats are currently occupied by No Utility Money Challenge takers. Come January, there will be at least 24 of those 43 seats occupied by lawmakers who have vowed off contributions from our monopoly utilities.

Michigan’s monopoly utilities continue to spend, however. The latest campaign finance filings released at the end of July, combined with publicly-reported advertising, show the state’s monopoly utilities, DTE and Consumers Energy, have spent well over $557,000 so far this year – doling out lawmaker contributions and attacking a sitting lawmaker for opposing data center projects. 

In roughly the first two quarters of this year, DTE handed out $153,650 to lawmakers and Consumers $114,510. All contributions from utility PACs can be viewed on Michigan LCV’s environmental scorecard at https://www.michiganlcv.org/corporate-accountability/. 

Two dark money non-profits connected to Consumers Energy spent at least $290,000 attacking state Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers) in his primary while boosting his opponent.  Carra – who eventually won easily – has been a vocal opponent of data centers.

“DTE and Consumers continue to try to buy and bully their way around our state – all while they make billions of dollars in profits and pay their CEOs tens of millions – all while we pay skyrocketing energy bills and are too often left in the dark for days at a time. But the tide is turning against them, and come January, there will be a lot more elected officials in office who have made it abundantly clear that they won’t be influenced by them,” said Allison.  “Voters are demonstrating at the ballot box that they are tired of these companies corrupting our politics while we all face rising prices, poor service, and unfair outage compensation practices.”

 

Michigan Information & Research Service Inc. (MIRS) reported on 7/23 that two organizations with ties to Consumers Energy spent nearly $290,000 on advertising targeting Rep. Carra – Faithful Conservatives for Michigan has spent $138,691 in the race, while Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy has spent $149,756, according to AdImpact.  

Faithful Conservatives for Michigan, which has been registered with the state since 2018, lists Chris Iannuzzi, the executive director of governmental affairs at Consumers Energy, as its secretary.  Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy,  which has been registered since 2013, lists Brandon Hofmeister as its president. Hofmeister is Consumers Energy’s senior vice president of strategy, sustainability and external affairs.

Polling consistently shows an overwhelming majority of Michigan voters support banning political donations from regulated monopolies.

That’s why a broad coalition of organizations and Michiganders, including Michigan LCV, is leading a ballot initiative effort called Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) that would ban DTE and Consumers from donating to lawmakers by vote this fall. DTE and Consumers meanwhile, have donated $115,000 to Protect Michigan Free Speech, the group formed to oppose MMOP. 

To learn more about that important initiative and how to help the effort to get on the ballot, visit www.mopupmichigan.org.