Money in Ann Arbor politics: Where does it come from, and where does it go?
Pre-election campaign finance statements for candidates of the Aug. 4 Ann Arbor mayoral and City Council primaries were due Friday. The statements report all campaign contributions and expenditures — from five-figure donations, to a $3. 99 purchase of water made by mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi’s campaign. Collectively, candidates for mayor and City Council have raised more […]
Pre-election campaign finance statements for candidates of the Aug. 4 Ann Arbor mayoral and City Council primaries were due Friday. The statements report all campaign contributions and expenditures — from five-figure donations, to a $3. 99purchaseof water made by mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi’s campaign. Collectively, candidates for mayor and City Council have raised more than $600,000 in 2026 in preparation for the state primary. Local office campaign contribution limits set by the state of Michiganstatean individual may contribute up to $2,450 to an Ann Arbor mayoral candidate and up to $1,225 to a City Council candidate. Donations reset after the primaries, and people may contribute additional funds during the general election. This year, Mayor Christopher Taylor’s political actioncommittee, Christopher Taylor for Mayor,received$176,293. 00 and spent $141,534. 05. Taylor alsoraisedjust under $70,000 in 2025, including $20,000 from theMichigan Laborers Political League. Taylor’s campaign spent $40,000 on digital advertising, almost $7,000 on yard signs, more than $1,000 on T-shirts and more than $2,500 for two mailers. Rabhi’s committee,Yousef Rabhi for Ann Arbor,took inabout $213,000 and spent a little more than $128,500, leaving a near $85,000 surplus. Expenditures included $40,000 in campaign management fees, more than $12,500 on yard signs, almost $19,000 on a mailer and nearly $30,000 on digital and cable ads. Rabhi also spent $1,700 on hiscampaign launch video. Rabhi’s largest donations include $5,000 from MI Leaders of Tomorrow, $2,500 fromTeamsters Local 243 PACand $1,000 fromPinkertonCEO Jack Zahran. Taylorclaimshe is the only mayoral candidate who has not received contributions from corporate and industry PACs. While Yousef Rabhi for Ann Arbor has not directly accepted money from corporate lobbyists, Rabhi’s past PACs have. While serving in Lansing, RabhicreatedtheLiberty and Justice for All PAC. Both it and the Committee to Elect Yousef Rabhi — Rabhi’s state senator PAC — haveaccepteddonations from other PACs. Combined, these two PACs received $11,750 from Auto Dealers of Michigan PAC; $13,500 fromRealtors PACand Realtors PAC of Michigan; $7,950 fromMichigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association; $5,750 from theMichigan Credit Union League; $3,750 from theMichigan Cannabis Industry Association; $2,500 from Meijer PAC of Michigan; and $1,500 from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan PAC. Liberty and Justice for All and Committee to Elect Yousef Rabhi also received donations from the Michigan Commercial Real Estate PAC, theMichigan Beverage Association, theMichigan Licensed Beverage Association, the Michigan McDonald’s Government Association, the Michigan Used Beverage Container PAC, the Ford Motor Company Civic Action Fund and the Michigan Sugar Company Growers PAC. More than$12,000of leftover money from Rabhi’s state senator PAC andmore than$43,000from Liberty and Justice for All wasfunneledinto Citizens for Yousef Rabhi, his Washtenaw County commissioner campaign committee, during his 2022 and 2024electioncampaigns. $48,000 of leftover money from the campaign was transferred into his mayoral campaign committee funds. Liberty and Justice for All also made $1,000 contributions to the campaigns of City Council candidatesRyan BartholomewandDave Zeglen. Taylor himself helps manage a PAC calledAnn Arbor for Everyone. Jon Oberheide, founder ofDuo Security,donated$25,000 to it in June. This PAC has funded Taylor’s campaign and made donations to the City Council campaigns ofCynthia Harrison,Sandy AldrichandJenn Cornell. One of the biggest spenders in the election so far is theMichigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, donating $10,000 to Taylor and $5,000 each to Harrison, Aldrich and Cornell. Most City Council candidates have raised thousands of dollars in donations. In Ward 2, Aldrich out-fundraisedTeesha Montague$25,581 to $10,480, respectively. In Ward 3, Bartholomew received more than $26,000 in donations, while opponent Ashley Hallfailed to filethe finance report form and will have to pay a late fee. In Ward 4, Aidan Sovafundraisedmore than $55,000 — the most out of any City Council candidate and more than doubling Zeglen’s funds, which surpassed $26,000. In Ward 5, Cornell leads with more than $32,000 compared toGreg Monroeat almost $26,000. The largest discrepancy in City Council donations comes from Ward 1; Harrison has raised almost $39,000, while her competitor, Rebecca Arends, refused to accept donations, or any services which could count as in-kind contributions. She has spent just under $1,000 of her own money on her campaign. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Arends said she does not accept donations because she wants to get money and influence out of local politics. “For the last few decades in Ann Arbor city politics, there’s been a lot of influence — whether real or imagined — from developers, from landowners, from prominent figures in the community, from big corporations,” Arends said. “I wanted to divest myself from any possibility of being seen as someone who would bend to the will of anyone other than residents. ”Other money influencing local politics comes from theAnn Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition, a group opposingAnn Arbor for Public Power’s push for a city takeover of the electrical grid fromDTE Energy. DTEclaimsit is not running A2REC, despite the two initially having the samemailing addressand a$1. 8 million contributionmade by DTE to the coalition, alongside several in-kind contributions. Rabhi is a vocalsupporterof municipalizing electricity in Ann Arbor and hasclaimedcompanies like DTE are funneling dark money into the race to undermine him. A2P2 is gathering signatures for aballot proposalwhich would put the future of public power in Ann Arbor in the hands of voters in the midterm election. In an interview with The Daily, Rabhi said support for Taylor from organizations and corporate influences indicate outside influences do not want Rabhi to be elected mayor. “They’re clearly wanting Taylor to win the election, and has Taylor said anything to publicly disavow what they’ve done?” Rabhi said. “There are corporate forces that are not willing to disclose themselves that are trying to tear me down because they do not want me to be the mayor of Ann Arbor. That should be telling that whatever dark money, corporate forces exist out there want Taylor to continue as mayor of Ann Arbor, and they want me to not win. ”Taylor told The Daily he is not involved with outside organizations and condemned their role in the race, referencing the Citizens United v. Federal Trade Commissiondecisionallowing for corporate and labor union independent spending. “I condemn dark money,” Taylor said. “Citizens United has been and continues to be terrible for our democracy. I condemn the fact of the dark money mailers that have been distributed. I’m proud of the race that I’m running. I don’t hold my opponent responsible for lies or slanders uttered by his supporters. I’m responsible for what I say. ”The primary elections for the mayoral and City Council races will take place on Aug. 4, and early voting has already begun. Daily News Editor Dominic Apap can be reached atdapap@umich. edu.