For ‘Money Out of Politics,’ political timing couldn’t be better
The dust has settled. The Supreme Court(s) have spoken.
We’ll have two statewide ballot proposals this fall: whether to rewrite our state’s constitution and whether large state contractors and public utilities can give to political candidates.
I’ve written about the former before. In a nutshell, nothing would shake up Lansing more than Proposal 1 passing. That’s why practically nobody in the state government is urging a yes vote. Lots of uncertainty. Lots of tumult. Lots of work.
The other is a politically ingenious play constructed along the same anti-corporation/anti-establishment vein as Proposal 1.
Environmentalists and citizens-action groups that historically get steamrolled by DTE and Consumers Energy’s vast resources and political connections have whipped up a proposal that bans regulated utilities from writing checks to political candidates.
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP)’s proposal also bans the roughly 1,000 state government contractors with more than $250,000 in state business from giving to politicians.
The genius behind Proposal 2 is the timing. It’s like a “heater” in gambling or like striking oil in the middle of seemingly worthless land.
Voters on the political left and right are openly agitated about their electric bills. They feel power companies get all the price increases they want, whenever they want them. We all have no choice but to pay.
And then the power goes out after a storm.
It’s expensive to bury power lines. Most of them are strung up on poles high above ground. The wind blows trees into the power lines. They snap. No power. (We love our trees, though, don’t we?)
Shame on the power companies for not burying the lines.
The rest of the ballot proposal speaks to the Golden Rule in politics (or business, life, college football …) “Those who have the gold, make the rules.”
Yup. People are tired of it. The affordability squeeze is touching more people than ever. Campaigning off this concept is working.
Shoot, Abdul El-Sayed – a Muslim who can’t clearly state whether he believes Israel should exist – may win Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat (in part) on his “getting money out of politics” message.
The guy had more than $60 million dumped on him in what AdImpact has as the most expensive Democratic U.S. Senate primary in U.S. history, and he still won the primary.
The D.C. Republicans are committing another $51 million to knocking him off, and El-Sayed is still leading in some polls.
Look at Perry Johnson, the gazillionaire who blew $33 million of his own money during the gubernatorial primary. He literally spent $100 for every vote he got in the Republican contest.
He lost.
Big money in politics is not a guarantee in 2026. Two organizations connected with Consumers Energy put at least $290,000 into targeting state Rep. Steve Carra in Coldwater. Didn’t work. Carra won with 58.5% of the vote.
Deep-pocketed cryptocurrency guy Shri Thanedar won’t be serving in the next Congress.
A Democratic state representative in Detroit who chaired the House Energy Committee during the trifecta but declined to “hold DTE accountable” during her tenure lost her primary.
The question isn’t whether MMOP will pass. It’s the amount. It should easily get 70% support. Will it get 80%?
The utilities, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the other contractors are wisely saving their money for the upcoming court battle on this one. No point wasting it on a “no” campaign. Not in this environment.
They have much better odds arguing “my dollars, my voice” in this post-Citizens United world to a Trump-leaning U.S. Supreme Court.
This speaks to the other brilliant maneuver by MMOP. Once voters adopt this thing in November, it becomes state law. The Attorney General, fueled by endless tax dollars, must defend it.
Michigan United, Clean Water Action and the other groups that got MMOP on the ballot? They’ll surely write a court brief about how New Jersey’s similar law is still on the books. Georgia and other states have much narrower limitations on who can give to elected energy regulators.
But arguing in court that MMOP is not a bridge too far?
That will be the state’s job.
