LANSING, Mich.
Nearly $23 million spent on television advertising related to Michigan's 2010 statewide elections isn't disclosed in the state's campaign finance reporting system, according to a report released Monday by a watchdog group.
The nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network said the money was spent on candidate-focused "issue" advertising and isn't disclosed because of weak laws or how they're interpreted by state election officials. The report says nearly $70 million has been spent on this sort of advertising to support candidates since 2000.
Political parties or special interests -- not the candidates themselves -- are typically behind the commercials. The ads typically include a notice so viewers can see who sponsored or paid for them. But the television ads referred to in the campaign finance group's report don't explicitly mention voting or direct a viewer on how to vote, so the source of funding does not have to be reported to election officials.
"It's a lot of money off the books," said Rich Robinson, who heads up the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Robinson said the state's campaign finance disclosure system has reached a "point of dysfunction" and more transparency is needed. His group supports full disclosure of all campaign spending and the contributions behind it.
Records of candidate-focused issue advertisements often are found in public files of the state's broadcasters and cable systems. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network has collected those records since the 2000 election cycle. Some of the spending amounts are estimated.
Many candidates benefit from advertising that isn't paid for from their own campaign finance accounts. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network report said that in 2010, three candidates won television-driven statewide elections without buying their own TV ads -- Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, Republican Supreme Court Justice Mary Beth Kelly and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero, who won a primary but lost in the November election to Republican Rick Snyder.
The Michigan Republican Party and the Michigan Democratic Party are among the groups that buy the ads. Snyder got help from the Republican Governors Association during the 2010 campaign.
Johnson, in her first year as secretary of state, is "pro-disclosure" and is planning ways to strengthen campaign finance reporting laws, spokeswoman Tracy Ward said.
It was not immediately clear Monday how those proposals might specifically affect "issue" advertising.
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