| Most observers agree that the only road to a Democratic majority in the Michigan Senate runs through Kalamazoo. Now that Campaign Finance Reports are out for 2009, how do the contenders stand?
Raised Spent
Taylor $112,100 $5,769
Totten $133,862 $13,826
Jones $14,463 $3,754
DeShazor $0 $0
Wenke $57,395 $38,058
Schuitmaker $148,510 $22,122
Robert B. Jones, 60th District incumbent Representative, appears (at first glance) to be in third place in fundraising among the Democratic contenders. He also has roughly a $15,000 balance in his House Committee that could be transferred, and presumably being a veteran legislator will be able to raise money as needed.
John Taylor, a veteran County Commissioner, has raised a surprising $112,000. Digging a little deeper, however, $100,000 is a loan to the campaign (presumably from himself), which has not been spent and could be easily returned if it came to that.
Mark Totten is a Kalamazoo native, who received a law degree and PhD. in Ethics from Yale, served in the Justice Dept. in DC, then returned to Michigan and is currently a law professor at MSU. His impressive $134,000 has been raised primarily from his network of Yale and DC contacts.
It may be mildly surprising that Larry DeShazor has not begun raising money for his Senate bid yet, but he jumped in late, and the one-term 61st District Representative should have little trouble raising money in Portage, where he served on the City Council.
Lorence Wenke can presumably write himself a check for whatever is required.
80th District Representative Tonya Schuitmaker raised $148,000 (again, $100,000 from herself), and appears to be well-placed for this run.
So, the numbers are less surprising, and tell us a bit less than appears at first glance. |
