It’s a lot cheaper to chase a City Council seat than to run for mayor.

Eighteen Detroiters on the Aug. 5 primary ballot collectively raised nearly $504,500 and spent $371,838, while mayoral candidates collectively spent nearly $2 million. A BridgeDetroit review of campaign disclosures shows some council races were funded by a handful of donors. Others were fueled by personal loans, political committees, business groups and people beyond the district boundaries.

Large dollar donations came directly from or groups affiliated with Ambassador Bridge Owner Matthew Moroun, billionaire Dan Gilbert and Gary Torgow, chairman of Huntington National Bank and Sterling Group.

Publicly available fundraising reports provide information on donations collected by July 20. City Council candidates spent approximately $20,600 on average during the reporting period, with some notable outliers. Mayoral candidates spent ten times as much on average. 

District 2 candidate Roy McCalister Jr. was the top spender, but the funds largely came from his own wallet. The former District 2 councilman gave his campaign $111,374 and landed second place, advancing to the November general election. McCalister’s spending ensured that the  race was the most expensive of the four primary contests. 

Detroit activist and former City Charter Commissioner member Denzel McCampbell raised $92,032 and finished first in the District 7 primary. His campaign was fueled by an average donation of $81 from across the country after being endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib. 

Businesses, unions and other groups form political committees to support candidates who are sympathetic to their interests. Donations don’t guarantee influence is being peddled, but contributions can help groups build relationships with public officials. 

McCampbell, a former communications director and advisor for Tlaib, received $20,000 from SEIU of Michigan. The service employees union supported three incumbents seeking reelection.

District 6 Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero received $20,000, while SEIU gave $2,500 each to District 2 Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway and District 4 Council Member Latisha Johnson. Santiago-Romero and Johnson did not face a primary.

State Rep. Karen Whitsett finished second in the District 7 primary with $11,000 from Rock Holdings, a political fund seeded by billionaire Dan Gilbert and leaders of Rocket Companies. All of Whitsett’s funds came from political committees; she reported no individual donors. 

State disclosures show Gilbert himself put $125,000 into the fund in May. It had $131,408 left to spend by July. 

Rock had mixed success in picking City Council winners. The committee spent $10,000 on the third-place finisher in District 2, state Rep. Helena Scott, and gave $7,500 to George Adams Jr. in District 5, who finished fifth. 

At-Large Incumbent Coleman Young II received $17,500 and advanced in his primary. 

The committee gave District 3 Incumbent Scott Benson $10,000. He and Cranstana Anderson automatically advanced from primary and will run head-to-head in November. 

Here are other insights pulled from state and local campaign finance records. 

AT-LARGE 

Five candidates running for two at-large seats on the City Council collectively spent $123,034. 

The top-four finishers moved on: Incumbent City Council members Mary Waters and Young, Janeé Ayers and James Harris. 

Three other candidates did not report any fundraising activity: Gary Hunter, Shakira Hawkins and Valerie Parker.

Waters was the top spender with $39,128. She has $23,144 left to spend on the general election. 

Moroun, the Ambassador Bridge Owner, gave Waters the max donation of $8,325. So did Cindy Pasky, CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions. Moroun gave Waters $2,000 in 2022. 

The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters gave Waters $5,000. Dimitrios Papas, the owner of The Atheneum Suite Hotel and a founder of Greektown Casino-Hotel, gave $3,300. Former Mayor Dennis Archer gave $1,000. 

Water and Sewerage Department Director Gary Brown kicked in $500, as did the Detroit Fire Fighters Association. 

Young spent $30,975 on his campaign and has $59,021 left to spend in the general election, the most of any council candidate. Young gave himself $25,525. 

He reported two fundraisers. Young raised $35,275 in June at the Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center. He raised $22,000 a month later at the Sterling Group headquarters. 

Young raised $17,500 from members of the Torgow family, who lead the real estate investment firm Sterling Group. CFO Benjamin Wayntraub also gave $2,000.

MPS Group CEO Charlie Williams was a top donor, giving Young the max donation of $8,325. Another of Young’s top donors runs the oldest and largest Jewish school in Michigan. Max Berlin, chairman of the executive committee at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, gave $5,000. 

Detroit School Board Member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo gave Young $1,000. She listed her occupation as a manager at Team Wellness. 

Ayers, a former council member, was third-place finisher with nearly 14% of the vote. She spent $20,799 and has $7,475 left to spend in the general election. 

She received maximum donations of $8,325 from Moroun and Pasky. IVY Kitchen + Cocktails CEO Nya Marshall gave $1,500. Moment Strategies CEO Alexis Wiley, a longtime adviser to Mayor Mike Duggan and spokesperson for his gubernatorial campaign, gave $500. 

Harris, chief of the Fire Department’s Community Relations Division, finished fourth and will advance from the primary. He earned 7% of the vote. The Detroit Fire Fighters Association PAC gave him $500. 

Harris spent $31,877 and had $9,797 to spend in the general election. His top donor is West Bloomfield small business owner Eihab Kinaia, who gave the maximum of $8,325. 

Harris received $6,400 from Cincere Al’Talet, a legal consultant with Cincere Principle Consulting Group. Detroit pastor and activist Horace Sheffield III gave $2,500. 

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey gave Harris $120. 

DISTRICT 2 

Three candidates who ran in the District 2 primary spent $141,756 total on the race. 

Whitfield-Calloway raised $24,801 since the start of the year and spent $11,210. The incumbent council member gave her own campaign $13,906.

McCalister’s self-funded campaign had $118,034 at its disposal and spent most of it, leaving $2,143 in remaining cash to use for the general election. Whitfield-Calloway reported $22,673 in cash on hand at the end of July. 

The cash advantage helped McCalister advance from the primary, but he earned 2,440 fewer  than Whitfield-Calloway. She won the primary with 45% of the vote. They will face off in November. 

Whitfield-Calloway received $9,800 from members of the Torgow family. She received $12,250 total from Sterling Group executives. 

Whitfield-Calloway previously applauded Sterling Group Chairman Gary Torgow for negotiating community benefits last year in exchange for a $142 million tax break package she supported for its riverfront Hotel at Water Square project. 

Whitfield-Calloway received $4,500 from Laborers’ Local Union 1191 and $500 from Registrars PAC Local 58 IBEW. She also took $3,900 from Moroun and his wife Lindsay.

Michael Dolphin, director of the Avenue of Fashion Business Association, gave her $1,000. Attorneys working for the Perkins Law Group, owned by mayoral candidate Todd Perkins, gave a combined $3,000. 

Clerk Janice Winfrey’s committee gave Whitfield-Calloway $125. She received $300 from Gay-Dagnogo, who this time listed her occupation as UAW government affairs representative. 

State Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit, raised $17,450 and spent $14,696 on her campaign. She finished third, falling 729 votes behind McCalister. 

Most of Scott’s funding came from political committees. 

Scott received $10,000 from the political committee of Rock Holdings. She also received $5,000 from the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters PAC.

Scott received $500 from State Sen. Sylvia Santana’s committee, $500 from pharmaceutical company Astellas and $100 from former State Rep. Felicia Brabec.  

DISTRICT 5 

Seven candidates who ran in the District 5 primary raised a combined $49,000.

George Adams was the top fundraiser with $15,230 while Michael Ri’Chard was the top spender with $10,942. Neither advanced from the primary.

UAW-backed candidate Renata Miller will face Willie Burton, a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. Miller finished first with 23% of the vote over Burton’s 19% and led by 494 votes. 

Miller raised $13,660 and spent $10,673. Burton raised $3,745 and spent $990 on his campaign.

Miller had 27 donors, including Moroun, who gave $2,400. The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters gave her $5,000. She also received $100 from Waters, who is seeking reelection to an at-large seat. 

Burton drew funds from just 14 donors. Red Door Digital owner Roger Robinson was his top donor with $1,900. 

Esther Haugabook finished third with 18% of the vote. She raised $4,355 and spent all but $3 on the primary. 

Tatjana Jackson finished fourth with 16% of the vote. She raised and spent $500 on her campaign. 

Adams raised $15,230 and finished fifth with 14% of the vote. Nearly half of Adams’ funding came from a $7,500 Rock Holdings donation. Adams gave himself $1,830. 

Michael Hartt raised nothing for his campaign. He loaned himself $7,803 and finished with 5% of the vote.

Ri’chard finished last. He loaned himself $10,000 out of the $11,870 he raised. Former state Sen. Adam Hollier gave him $500. 

DISTRICT 7

Three District 7 candidates spent $68,346 on the primary. 

McCampbell narrowly took first with 35% of the vote, beating Whitsett by 56 votes. Regina Ross finished third (25%) and Bobbi Johnson finished in fourth (7%). Johnson did not report any fundraising activity. 

McCampbell’s prominent endorsements helped bring in smaller donations far and wide from places like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Campaign finance reports show the average donation from individuals was $81.

McCampbell was given $29,350 from several political committees including SEIU, Unite Here Tip Campaign Committee, Michigan Action, Rooted in Community Leadership,  the IBEW and Planned Parenthood Advocate of Michigan. 

He reported raising $27,899 from six fundraisers hosted at Detroit Brew-ti-ful Coffee House, Starter’s Bar and Grill, and the private residence of Dessa Cosma, program director of the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition. 

McCampbell had $52,702 left to spend on his campaign, giving him a massive advantage over Whitsett. She spent $20,347 and had $1,653 left to spend.  

Whitsett raised all of her $22,000 of her funds from political committees. Half came from Rock Holdings. Michigan Health Access Alliance gave $10,000 and Associated Builders and Contractors PAC gave $1,000.

Ross reported spending $8,669 on her unsuccessful campaign. She received $1,000 from State Rep. Joe Tate’s leadership fund. 

The next round of campaign finance disclosures are due Aug. 25. 

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the outcome of the District 7 race.