Tessman Appointed to State Board, Should the Michigan Constitution Be Amended, and PAC Influence in Michigan Elections
– INFORMED BREVITY –
From Around the Upper Peninsula
Tessman Appointed to State Board
NMU President Brock Tessman was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the influential board of the Michigan Education Trust (MET). This program provides tax exemptions for contributions to a fund to help a student with college tuition. It has helped thousands and thousand of students get through a college education without going into deeper debt for that education. The program was started by former Governor James Blanchard in the mid eighties.
Do You Think the Michigan Constitution Should Be Amended?
You will have your chance to make sure that process begins in 2026. The current constitution requires that every 16 years the voters of Michigan can decide to conduct a constitutional convention to start the discussion of amendments. This language is contained in the Michigan Constitution in Article XII, Section 3. If the voters approve a constitutional convention in 2026 you can become a delegate to the convention and work on possible future amendments.
Michigan Legislators and PACs
We just recently elected and reelected 110 State Representatives last November. Campaigns have become very, very expensive at the state and federal level.
Bridge Magazine recently published (1.16.25) a survey on State House members raised their campaign funds. Of the four Upper Peninsula State Representatives only one had a hotly contested race–Karl Bohnak (R) of the 109th District. He defeated incumbent Jenn Hill (D). Bohnak flipped the district from a Democratic district to a Republican one, in a district that has been Democratic for decades.
Bridge reported that, “All told, the 110 lawmakers now serving in the State House received on average less than 14% of their campaign contributions from their constituents, while more than 60% came from Political Action Committees (PACS).”
Candidate Bohnak received $91,000 from PACs and raised almost $21,000 in his district from constituents, according to the Bridge Magazine report. It also reported that among the UP legislators the closest to Bohnak was Representative Prestin (108th District) who raised $40,000 from PACs.
It is important to note the PACs are authorized by law in Michigan and perfectly legal. The overwhelming majority of legislators take PAC money. Voters however are getting more and more concerned about so-called “dark money” or PAC money and their influence on campaigns. The same is true at the federal level.
You can go to the Michigan Secretary of State website and get the exact amounts raised by each candidate for the Michigan legislature and how much they took from PACs and how much from individuals in their districts–including dollar amounts.
Quotes That Make Us Go Hmmm
Will Smith in After Earth. He says to his son on a planet full of monsters: “Danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”
“More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” Primo Levi.
Books Recommended by Our Readers
“Separated”. Jacob Soboroff. 2024.
Talk To Us
Keep your raves, laurels, rants and darts coming. Send them to us at david@ruralinsights.org. We love to read them.
About Us
Rural Insights connects policy, information, news and culture to raise topics and stories/information you might have not seen or overlooked. We bring you original writing from Rural Insights and other researchers, change makers, and storytellers, as well as our latest research and analysis.
Like Whispers?
If so, please forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here or on our website: www.ruralinsights.org.
TWITTER/X: Follow us @ruralinsightsUP.
“WE BELIEVE YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO FORM YOUR OWN OPINIONS, AND WE TRY TO GIVE YOU SOME SOURCES TO DEVELOP YOUR OPINIONS.”
4 Comments
Leave a Comment
Newsletter
Related Articles
Very interesting articles, thanks for your work and the insights!
The amount of money spent on political campaigns seems mind-boggling. That said, your article seems to imply that too much money for elections is coming from PACs. To illustrate that fact, you cite statistics from Karl Bohnak’s campaign. Readers might be left with the idea that “Those darned Republicans are so rich that they’re buying elections.” As a balance, why not provide balanced coverage by also supplying readers with details on Jenn Hill’s campaign spending. I see from info at Transparency USA that Jenn Hill spent $692,296 on her campaign, whereas Karl Bohnak spent $163,100. You can find a list of PAC contributors to Jenn Hill’s campaign here, and you will quickly see that PACs contributed far more money to her campaign than to Bohnak’s https://www.transparencyusa.org/mi/candidate/jenn-hill. I am not criticizing the candidates, just pointing out that perhaps your coverage could be more balanced. Also, as a journalist, it is, perhaps, not a good thing to depend on third-party sources, such as Bridge Michigan. It takes some effort to track down primary sources, but that’s what journalism is all about.
Totally agree with you, Sarah!
Was there any information on how much Jenn Hill received from PACS and Constituents?