Money is pouring into Michigan’s US Senate race, and much of it isn’t coming from Michigan.

This week, The ’Gander’s Kyle Kaminski unpacks the millions in outside spending that’s flooding the Democratic primary, and why the fine print at the end of those political ads tells a much bigger story than the ads themselves.

Plus, we look at how the stalled shutdown of a West Michigan coal plant is driving up electric bills across the state.

Whitmer signs her final state budget (Michigan Advance): Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Michigan’s $22.9 billion education budget Tuesday, boosting per-pupil funding while continuing free school meals, free pre-K and major investments in student literacy. She also approved the rest of the state’s $85 billion budget, including housing measures and funding for roads, healthcare and other key priorities.

Big investors banned from buying new homes under new MI law (Bridge Michigan): Whitmer also signed a new law limiting large investors from buying more single-family homes in Michigan once they own 100 or more properties in the state.

Ex-House speaker accused of ‘extravagant partying’ (The Detroit News): New court records reveal former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield’s ex-chief of staff told investigators the lawmaker took lavish trips funded by political insiders and mishandled campaign money. The allegations surfaced ahead of the Republican lawmaker’s September felony trial, where he faces charges of embezzling political funds and has pleaded not guilty.

(The ‘Gander TikTok)

If you live in Michigan, it’s incredibly likely you’ve seen this ad showing former President Barack Obama praising US Senate candidate Haley Stevens. You’ve probably seen this one attacking Abdul El-Sayed, too. These ads have been on your TV every night for weeks, and at the end of each one, there’s about a second and a half of fine print that nobody ever reads. That fine print is the whole story.

Here’s the deal: Outside spending in the race to become Michigan’s next US senator has blown past $41 million. Most of it is being spent on the Democratic primary, and that cash is doing two things—boosting Stevens and trying to bury her opponent, El-Sayed.

Of all the ad money being spent in this primary, about 74% is working for one candidate, $3 out of every $4. One single superPAC here has now spent more than $9 million boosting Stevens, and another $5.7 million attacking El-Sayed. That’s nearly $15 million from one group. It’s called the United Democracy Project, a superPAC affiliated with AIPAC.

And here’s the kicker. AIPAC isn’t even the weirdest money in this race. A second superPAC calls itself A Stronger Michigan. It didn’t exist eight weeks ago. It registered with the FEC in June, started buying TV ads the next day, and went from spending $1 million to more than $12 million. So who is A Stronger Michigan? Reporters went looking, and the address on its federal paperwork isn’t in Michigan. It’s at a lobbyist house in McLean, Virginia, 600 miles from Lansing.

So, what is all that money actually buying? Take that first ad with Obama. That’s Obama’s real voice calling Stevens a critical part of his team. Here’s what the ad doesn’t tell you: Obama said that in 2018 about a US House race—eight years ago. He hasn’t endorsed anybody in this Senate race. AIPAC just went into the archive, pulled his voice off the shelf, and put it on your TV three weeks before you vote. And this month, the United Auto Workers sent A Stronger Michigan a cease and desist letter, because the superPAC was putting the UAW’s logo in its ads for Stevens. The UAW endorsed El-Sayed in June. They say it’s a deliberate attempt at misleading voters.

So what? Well, in less than three weeks, Michigan Democrats pick who runs for a US Senate seat that could decide control of the Senate, and an enormous share of what they’ll use to make that call was purchased by a single-issue lobbying group in Washington. Another corporate and big tech lobbyist in Virginia, and a group that’s so shady, it didn’t bother registering for us to learn more.

Check out the full story in this edition of so what? Michigan.

J.H. Campbell, a coal-burning power plant, operates in West Olive, Mich., Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Julián Trejo Bax)

By Kristine Gill

The J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive was on its last leg in May of 2025, when the owners got some bad news. The then-63-year-old plant had been winding down in preparation for retirement, no longer keeping up with maintenance tasks and burning up the last of its coal supply, ready to make way for cleaner energy options in the state.

Then President Donald Trump gave the order for it to stay open using an emergency order that many felt had questionable validity. The plant would have to continue operating for 90 more days, reordering coal, keeping workers on site, and working with failing parts until the feds decided what to do next. 

“It was supposed to close officially on the 31st of May, and the coal was all finished, everything was done, and he did this order on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend just less than a week before the shutdown,” said Jan O’Connell, the senior energy issues organizer for the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental organization.

Then it happened four more times. Four more emergency orders keeping the plant open, bringing it to its current predicament: still in operation more than a year after it was set to close, with no long-term plan to transition to the renewable energy sources it had promised.

“They were more than ready to close it,” O’Connell said, referring to Consumers Energy. “They were ready to go full speed ahead in renewables.”

But the limbo isn’t the biggest problem. Experts say it’s costing about $605,000 per day to keep the plant open, and those costs are being passed onto consumers who draw power from the MISO grid (Midcontinent Independent System Operator), servicing 15 Midwest and central states. 

By Abby Deatrick

In a prime-time address on July 16, President Donald Trump again cast doubt on the integrity of American elections. Trump alleged that vulnerabilities exist in American election systems and suggested that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, a claim that has been debunked by the president’s own Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and many other experts. 

Michiganders interested in supporting efforts to combat false narratives about election security can get involved in a variety of ways.

📣 Have an event to add? Email Abigail Deatrick, The ’Gander’s state organizing coordinator, with details. Please send submissions at least one week before the event.

📬 Was this forwarded to you? Sign up to get This Week in Michigan Politics in your inbox every week.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Karel Vega with stories from Kyle Kaminski, Kristine Gill, and Abby Deatrick. It was edited by Paula Solis.

The ’Gander is free for everyone. Your support makes our work possible.