Republicans in battleground states including Arizona and Michigan are paying heavily for their “full-throated support of former President [Donald] Trump,” Reuters reported Wednesday.
Big donors who have historically given millions to the state parties are fleeing, largely because they don't want to be associated with the support for Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
"I question whether the state party has the necessary expertise to spend the money well," said Ron Weiser, historically one of Michigan GOPs biggest donors who gave $4.5 million during the midterm elections. This election cycle, he’s giving nothing, blaming the “ludicrous” claim that Trump carried the state for his decision.
His refusal to fund the party has been reflected across the country, leaving many state apparatus close to poverty, according to Reuters which took a deep dive look at financial filings.
In Arizona, the GOP had cash reserves of less than $50,000 at the end of March – at the same point four years ago it had $770,000.
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Michigan GOP’s federal account had $116,000, down from $867,000 two years ago.
They are "astonishingly low cash reserves," Seth Masket, director of the non-partisan Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, told Reuters.
"Their ability to help candidates is severely limited right now."
Michigan raised $51,000 in the first three months of this year, less than a quarter of what it brought in in 2019. In Arizona, $139,000 was raised, compared to $330,000 in 2019.
The parties also haven’t been helped by legal fees stemming from the election denial. Arizona spent $300,000 on “legal consulting” last year. That included payments involving lawsuits filed seeking to overturn Trump’s defeat in the state and attorney fees for the former party chair, who was subpoenaed over her involvement in a scheme to falsely declare Trump the state’s winner.
Reuters spoke to five historically big donors in Arizona and Michigan who have stopped spending, citing election denial and support for extreme positions on policies like abortion.
"It's too bad we let the right wing of our party take over the operations," said longtime Arizona donor Jim Click.
Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, told Reuters: "They are effectively broke and I don't see the clouds parting and the sun coming out on their fundraising abilities.”
Arizona and Michigan were both won by President Joe Biden in 2020 and are considered among a handful of swing states that will decide the 2024 election result.
Jonathan Lines, Arizona's party chairman, told Reuters, "Not having the state party well funded is detrimental to many Republican campaigns next year.”
