U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin raised roughly quadruple that of her Republican opponent for U.S. Senate, Mike Rogers, during the most recent campaign finance reporting period, and has raised more than four times that of Rogers cumulatively, federal campaign finance reports filed Tuesday showed.
But despite the huge advantage by Slotkin (D-Holly) in raising money through her campaign committee, money pouring into the race from outside groups backing the two candidates shows a much more level playing field.
Rogers-backed groups, according to data from AdImpact, give him the advantage in advertising spending in the campaign’s final weeks of what is on track to be a new record in ad spending for a Michigan U.S. Senate contest.
Slotkin’s Federal Election Commission October quarterly statement covering the period of July 18 through September 30 shows her campaign reporting total receipts of about $16.7 million.
After expenditures during the quarter totaling $21.3 million, the Slotkin campaign had $4.08 million cash on hand.
For the election cycle, Slotkin has raised about $40.8 million.
Of Slotkin’s total receipts for the quarter, $15.1 million was from individual contributions, another $283,900 was from other political committees including political actions committees and $132,952 was transfers from other authorized committees.
The Rogers campaign in its October quarterly report, filed just before the midnight deadline for congressional candidates to submit third quarter reports, showed total receipts of $4.19 million.
Of Rogers’s total receipts, $2.78 million was from individual contributions and $307,150 came from other political committees including PACs. Another $1.08 million was from transfers from other authorized committees.
The Rogers campaign reported $2.6 million cash on hand following $4.08 million in expenditures during the reporting period. To date, Rogers has raised $9.55 million.
Separately on Tuesday, a Super PAC aligned with the U.S. Senate’s minority leader announced it is pouring millions into Michigan to back Rogers.
On Tuesday, Axios reported that an additional $10.5 million has been dedicated to backing Rogers’ campaign for the open seat, courtesy of the Senate Leadership Fund, a group aligned with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). AdImpact showed the group already had reserved more than $6 million of the new $10.5 million buy.
The funding comes after a $22.5 million advertising buy was announced by the group late last month (See Gongwer Michigan Report, September 30, 2024).
Rogers is locked in a fierce battle with Slotkin to fill the open seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing).
The additional commitment from the Senate Leadership Fund means, for now, a significant advertising advantage for Rogers in the campaign’s final three weeks, despite Slotkin crushing Rogers in candidate-to-candidate fundraising.
Data from AdImpact, a political advertising tracking firm, shows $24.5 million in advertising reservations by or on behalf of Rogers between now and the election on television, radio, digital and streaming platforms compared to $14.3 million by or on behalf of Slotkin.
That will reverse Slotkin’s advantage since the primary. Between the primary and Tuesday, advertising spending by or on behalf of Slotkin was $65.5 million compared to $60.9 million by or on behalf of Rogers.
In total, advertising spending and reservations by or on behalf of Rogers from the primary through the November 5 election is $84.1 million compared to $78.8 million by or on behalf of Slotkin.
Total advertising spending and reservations for the entire U.S. Senate race now stands at $183 million, which if all reservations are spent, will smash the Michigan U.S. Senate record of $153 million in the 2020 race between U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) and now-U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township).
– By Nick Smith and Zach Gorchow
