James holds cash advantage over Marlinga
After two unsuccessful races for the U.S. Senate, Republican businessman John James has clearly learned how to raise plenty of campaign cash.
James, the Republican nominee in Michigan’s newly drawn 10th Congressional District anchored in Macomb County, reported to the Federal Election Commission this weekend that his campaign committees raised about $2.07 million in the three-month period ending Sept. 30, bringing his total for the election cycle to date to nearly $6 million.
That is far more than that raised by James’ Democratic opponent in the race, former Circuit Judge and Macomb County prosecutor Carl Marlinga, who reported campaign receipts of just under $475,000 for the threemonth period and just under $736,000 for the
election cycle to date.
As of the end of the month, Marlinga had a little less than $190,000 cash left in his campaign coffers, compared to some $2.9 million for James, giving the Republican a significant financial advantage headed into the last month of the campaign.
On paper, the new 10th District is considered marginally more Democratic than Republican when looking at the outcome of statewide elections within the district’s borders over the last decade. But former President Donald Trump won within its confines twice and Macomb County has been trending more Republican in recent elections.
James, a former Army helicopter pilot, is also seen as a strong candidate in a year when Republicans are expected to have an edge nationally in U.S. House races.
Of James’ total receipts for the three-month period, some $94,000 came via a separate campaign committee that raised funds from the Take Back the House committee, which is aligned with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. That separate campaign committee had about $3,500 left in its account as of Sept. 30.