Untraceable donations supplied thousands of dollars to a political group that spent big on promotional materials for mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield and has connections to her father.
Detroit Next PAC, a political committee formed two weeks before Sheffield announced her candidacy in December, spent more than $212,600 on advertisements backing her primary bid and is funding new billboards and mailers. Detroit Next PAC raised $342,850 before the August primary from a handful of donors and businesses, but a bulk of the cash came from 5Plus1, a nonprofit “dark money” group advised by Rev. Horace Sheffield III.
(Note: Editor’s note: BridgeDetroit’s 2025 election podcast is also called Detroit Next, but that’s a coincidence. There is no affiliation between BridgeDetroit and the group backing Sheffield. Check out episodes here)
Sheffield spent $1 million during the primary while rival mayoral candidate Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. spent $486,858. Sheffield doubled Kinloch’s spending and vastly out-raised him with support from deep-pocketed business leaders and smaller donors from across the country. The support of political committees like Detroit Next PAC further boosts her financial advantage.
Sheffield’s campaign welcomed the support in a statement, saying “We don’t see a problem with any candidate being the beneficiary of the tools and financial vehicles permitted by law.”
“With respect to any PAC and their support for the campaign, we welcome the support of anyone or any entity that embraces my vision for the future of Detroit which has always been about what’s in the best interest of Detroiters,” Sheffield said in an email. “Any further questions regarding their fundraising efforts and decision making should be directed to the PAC’s leadership.”
Detroit Next PAC is also a destination for donors who are maxed out on direct gifts to Sheffield’s campaign. Central Transport, owned by the Moroun family, gave $25,000. Central Transport President Matthew Moroun and his wife, Lindsay, previously each gave Sheffield’s campaign the maximum individual donation of $8,325.
Treasurer Amy Gray said Detroit Next is focused on “the promotion of fostering a pro-business environment in Detroit, Wayne County and the State of Michigan.”
Louay Hussein, owner of J & T Crova towing company, gave Detroit Next PAC $20,000 after also giving Sheffield’s campaign the maximum donation of $8,235.
5Plus1 provided 44% of Detroit Next’s funding before the primary, a total of $151,000. 5Plus1 is a social welfare nonprofit, meaning it can accept unlimited contributions and isn’t required to disclose where the money comes from.
What constitutes ‘dark money?’
These 501(c)(4) nonprofits are often described as “dark money” groups because the donors remain secret. They can spend funds on advocacy that indirectly affect candidates but can’t endorse candidates or coordinate with them. Michigan Vindicated, another dark money nonprofit formed by Lansing attorney Reid Felsing, gave Detroit Next $45,000.
Sheffield’s father was listed as an incorporator of 5Plus1 on a television ad order, but his name was removed after BridgeDetroit contacted him. Horace Sheffield said Thursday that he’s not actively involved with 5Plus1 but supplied the name; it was inspired by a rocky meeting his father, a prominent labor organizer, had with then-Mayor Louis Miriani about police brutality.
“They went back to the Trade Union Leadership Council and said ‘we need to be in charge of the city, and the best way to do that is to elect a liberal mayor and five liberal council persons,’” he explained. “That’s where it came from. It’s slightly different in the sense that Mary isn’t trying to take over the City Council, but it was a watershed moment in terms of what the transition of Detroit could be. We’ve seen a lot of that so continuing that is just as important.”
The two groups worked out of a building owned by Horace Sheffield’s nonprofit Detroit Association of Black Organizations. 5Plus1 was registered at the same address as DABO, where Horace is CEO. Detroit Next PAC rented office space at the DABO headquarters and paid $15,000 to the Ecumenical Ministers Alliance, which also lists Horace as chair.
State records show 5Plus1 was formed by Scott Holiday, who said Thursday that Detroit Next requested funding during the primary to fill a gap in its budget. 5Plus1 won’t continue to supply funds, he said.
Holiday said 5Plus1 is planning to use mail brochures to elevate the work of Sheffield and District 7 City Council candidate Denzel McCampbell on issues like affordable housing, safe communities and economic justice.
“It feels like a moment where we can have a mayor who’s willing to co-govern and build that five (member City Council majority) plus one,” Holiday said. “There are plenty of things that we’re going to need to focus on as a city in the future that cities typically wouldn’t focus on, like we’re actively watching the weakening of protections for people by the federal government. The stopgap has to be state and municipal leaders who are protecting their constituencies. I fully trust Mary to lead the charge in that regard.”
Detroit Next PAC was formed as a political committee, allowing it to contribute funds directly to Sheffield’s campaign. It can accept unlimited corporate or personal donations but is required to disclose donors and spending, making 5Plus1 a useful pass through for donors who wish to remain private.
“I can understand how that could be looked at that way,” Holiday said when asked whether there is a pipeline of funding between the two groups. “Our interests aligned. We wanted to have a spend but because we were not doing expressed advocacy, we wanted to ensure the organization that could do expressed advocacy could do that. It was never a coordinated effort to land money in (5Plus) and move it over to (Detroit Next) PAC.”
Who is behind the PAC?
Ongoing campaign finance activity won’t be reported until Oct. 25, leaving an incomplete picture of fundraising and spending across the mayoral race. Detroit Next PAC spent $318,004 and had $28,845 in leftover cash as of Aug. 25.
Detroit Next PAC spent nearly $112,000 on brochures supporting Sheffield, plus $91,000 on billboards and $10,000 on digital ads before the August primary.
Detroit Next PAC also paid for brochures and online ads backing two City Council candidates. It spent $24,878 on District 2 City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway’s reelection campaign plus $23,647 supporting District 5 candidate Renata Miller.
5Plus1 reserved more than $12,000 in television advertisements uplifting Sheffield in the months before the August primary. FCC disclosures show 5Plus1 is funding more television ads supporting Sheffield in October.
Gray previously told the Detroit Free Press that developer Chris Jackson is the executive director of Detroit Next PAC. Holiday and Horace Sheffield also referred questions to Jackson, who didn’t respond to phone calls. Gray declined to answer when asked about Jackson’s involvement.
Gray said there’s “no relationship” between Detroit Next and Horace Sheffield. Detroit Next paid Gray’s consulting firm Gray Ventures $2,500, according to documents.
Jackson has attended several Sheffield campaign events. He was reappointed to the Detroit Building Authority Commission by the council earlier this year.
Jackson is managing partner of Jackson Consulting Group and Queen Lillian Development. He also led the neighborhood advisory council for the District Detroit project. Jackson notably testified to bribing a former City Council member in 2006.
Jackson gave Detroit Next PAC $1,500. He also donated to the mayoral campaigns of primary candidates Fred Durhal III ($1,500) and Saunteel Jenkins ($500).
Holiday also serves as executive director of Detroit Action, a nonprofit progressive advocacy organization. He was promoted to executive director a few weeks before forming 5Plus1. He gave Mary Sheffield’s campaign $350.
Detroit Next paid Leila Restaurant $356 for food at a July 22 fundraiser, the same day and location where Sheffield’s campaign hosted a fundraiser. Darron Bates, CEO of Dapco Companies, spent $2,840 to cover the cost of the fundraiser for Sheffield’s campaign.
Gray said Detroit Next “never collaborated with the campaign” on a fundraiser and was not aware that Sheffield was hosting fundraisers on the same day it hosted a dinner with funders.
Real estate investing firm InterCapital Funding, Inc. gave Detroit Next $15,000. Cindy Pasky, founder of Strategic Staffing Solutions and an early Sheffield endorser, gave $10,000. So did CURE auto insurance CEO Eric Poe.
Fairlane Construction and Renovation Principal Rudah Saghir gave $7,500 after giving Sheffield a maximum donation earlier this year.
Gayanga Owner Brian McKinney gave $5,000 in July before the demolition contractor was temporarily suspended in September from working with the city over its use of contaminated dirt to backfill residential properties. McKinney gave Sheffield’s campaign $1,000 last December.
Sheffield collected $307,363 from political and business groups plus $1.2 million from individual donors. Kinloch collected $85,250 from political groups, almost entirely from the United Auto Workers Voluntary Community Action Program PAC, and $435,633 from individual donors.
Citizens for Michigan gave Sheffield’s campaign $20,000. It’s been entirely funded by Soave Enterprises CEO Anthony Soave in recent years. Soave is a prominent Duggan donor, a Kwame Kilpatrick associate and Florida golf club founder. Soave has given Citizens for Michigan $60,500 since 2023.
Beyond raising dollars legally, I’d be curious how candidates would respond to concerns that donors will receive unfair consideration or influence in the future.
This is the beginning of the end. This article lays out so much. It say that there is so much more.