Detroit By the Numbers: Dollars for Duggan [CHARTS]
2017 is an election year in Detroit. Here’s how Mayor Mike Duggan’s campaign finances look.
Mike Duggan has not stopped raising campaign cash since he won the 2013 Detroit mayoral election.
“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t raise money as they go along,” Duggan says.
WDET analyzed the campaign finances of “Mike Duggan for Mayor,” the candidate committee required by law to file reports about fundraising and expenses. The mayor’s contributions come from 30 states, total more than $4.5 million, and reflect a well-funded, organized effort heading into the 2017 election.
“If someone is going to mount a reasonable and strong challenge to Mayor Duggan, they’re going to have a really difficult time doing that,” says Craig Mauger, MCFN’s executive director. “If money is as important in 2017 as it has been in the past races, Mayor Duggan has already gotten a couple laps ahead of any potential challengers.”
Since he took office, Duggan has raised more than half of what he did while he was running the first time, and those funds came largely from Michigan but not Detroit.
Click on the map to see contributions from other cities around the state:
Click on the colored “wedges” below to see how much money came from each area:
“I think that pie chart is symbolic of the way campaigns are funded right now,” Mauger says.”If someone is going to challenge Mayor Duggan in 2017, the question is where are they going to get their money from?If someone is going to challenge him, they’d have to run a grass-roots campaign. It’s going to be difficult. I don’t think it’s impossible, but he has set up his political operation in such a way that it will be very difficult for anyone else.”
Click on the blue and green bars to see the dollar amounts for each year:
The chart above shows that the mean — or average — contribution to Duggan’s fund is higher than the median — which is the middle amount. That means donations are usually bigger.
Like his predecessor, Dave Bing, Duggan raised money while in office including the highest amount this year. (Duggan’s 2016 totals shown here include contributions made before Oct. 20 so it’s possible this total will grow when annual reports are filed early next year.)
Click on the red and blue bars to see the dollar amounts for each year:
Duggan spoke briefly with WDET after the December meeting of the Financial Review Commission, the state panel charged with overseeing the city’s finances since the city’s emergence from bankruptcy. He says he’s “not sure” how much he’ll aim to raise for a 2017 election effort. “I’m not really focused on it. I don’t have a budget. We’ll see how it goes,” he says. “I’m going to campaign the way I did the last time which is to sit down and talk to people from one of the city to another.”
He says he’s scheduling an announcement about any mayoral campaign for Feb. 4.
Meanwhile, some 10 people have pulled the petitions required to run for mayor. The signed petitions are due at the end of April.
SOURCE FOR CHARTS: “Mike Duggan for Detroit” campaign statements filed with Wayne County.
