Put Michigan First was a Democratic Party Super PAC controlled by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and funded largely by the DGA, labor unions, and Road to Michigan’s Future, a 501(c)(4) “dark money” group connected to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). ^{1 2} In the 2022 election cycle, Put Michigan First spent $38.92 million supporting Governor Whitmer’s successful reelection campaign and attacking Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, including with ads that independent fact-checkers labeled as “misleading.” ^{3 4}

Overview

Put Michigan First was created in July 2021, sharing a Washington, D.C. address with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). ⁵ Internal Revenue Service filings listed DGA chief operating officer Stephen Hill as Put Michigan First’s custodian of records. ⁶

The organization filed its final report with the Internal Revenue Service on December 15, 2022, and ceased operations. ⁷

Funders

The largest funder of Put Michigan First was the Democratic Governors Association, which contributed $14.1 million of the Super PAC’s $38.9 million budget. ⁸

The second-largest funder was Road to Michigan’s Future, a 501(c)(4) “dark money” group led by campaign staffers and allies of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). ⁹ In the 2022 election cycle, it contributed $5.5 million to Put Michigan First. ¹⁰

Put Michigan First received significant funding from labor unions and their associated political action committees, including the National Education Association (NEA) , the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBC), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Association (UA), the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the International Association of Sheet Metal Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). ^{11 12}

Put Michigan First also received individual donations from high-profile Democratic Party officials including $2 million from former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg and $10,000 from former Virginia Governor and Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe. ^{13 14}

Other high-profile left-of-center donors included the Sixteen Thirty Fund (1630 Fund), EMILY’s List, Democratic financier Karla Jurvetson, filmmaker Steven Spielberg, and Hyatt Hotel fortune heir Jennifer Pritzker. ¹⁵

Tudor Dixon Attack Ad

During the 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary, Put Michigan First spent a reported $2 million on an attack ad against Republican candidate and eventual nominee Tudor Dixon claiming that Dixon would cut police funding in Michigan. ^{16 17} Dixon had not proposed such a policy, but Democratic Governors Association spokespeople justified the advertisement by claiming that decreased revenues due Dixon’s proposed tax cuts would force cuts to police budgets. ¹⁸ Independent fact-checkers including FactCheck.org labeled the advertisement as “misleading.” ¹⁹

1. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
2. “Democrats Slam Tudor Dixon in Attack Ad, Days before Michigan Governor Primary.” Bridge Michigan. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/democrats-slam-tudor-dixon-attack-ad-days-michigan-governor-primary.
3. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
4. “New Put Michigan First Ad Highlights Dangerous Consequences of Tudor Dixon’s Radical Plan to Ban Abortion without Exceptions.” DGA, October 26, 2022. https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/new-put-michigan-first-ad-highlights-dangerous-consequences-of-tudor-dixons-radical-plan-to-ban-abortion-without-exceptions/.
5. “Put Michigan First.” Internal Revenue Service, 2022. https://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/details?searchOrgName=&searchFormType=Form+8872&ein=871484192&pacId=71854&pacInfoId=71854&fromDate=&toDate=.
6. “DGA Announces Senior Staff.” Democratic Governors Association, June 28, 2021. https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/dga-announces-senior-staff-2/.
7. “Put Michigan First.” Internal Revenue Service, 2022. https://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/details?searchOrgName=&searchFormType=Form+8872&ein=871484192&pacId=71854&pacInfoId=71854&fromDate=&toDate=.
8. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
9. Mauger, Craig. “Pro-Whitmer Nonprofit Beats pro-Snyder Groups by Raising $6.5m in One Year.” The Detroit News, January 17, 2022. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2022/01/17/pro-gretchen-whitmer-nonprofit-beats-pro-snyder-groups-raising-6-million-2020-tax-filing/6554927001/.
10. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
11. “Vendor/Recipient Profile: Put+Michigan+First.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=Put%2BMichigan%2BFirst.
12. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
13. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
14. “Terry McAuliffe.” The Virginia Public Access Project. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.vpap.org/candidates/11897/expenditures/service-6/vendor-441392-put-michigan-first/.
15. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
16. Kamisar, Ben, and Alexandra Marquez. “Democrats Launch Last-Minute $2 Million Ad Buy to Knock a GOP Gubernatorial Frontrunner.” NBCNews.com, July 27, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/democrats-launch-last-minute-2-million-ad-buy-knock-gop-gubernatorial-rcna40203.
17. “Put Michigan First Keeps Holding Mi Republicans Accountable with TV Ad Exposing Dixon’s Plan to Slash Police Funding.” Democratic Governors Association. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://democraticgovernors.org/updates/put-michigan-first-keeps-holding-mi-republicans-accountable-with-tv-ad-exposing-dixons-plan-to-slash-police-funding/.
18. “Democrats Slam Tudor Dixon in Attack Ad, Days before Michigan Governor Primary.” Bridge Michigan. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/democrats-slam-tudor-dixon-attack-ad-days-michigan-governor-primary.
19. Robert Farley, Lori Robertson. “Late Ad Misleadingly Claims Republican Candidate for Governor Could ‘slash’ State Police Funding.” FactCheck.org, November 3, 2022. https://www.factcheck.org/2022/07/late-ad-misleadingly-claims-republican-candidate-for-governor-could-slash-state-police-funding/.