January 30, 2023
Michigan Rising Action Files Campaign Finance Complaint Against UAW
Lansing, Mich., January 30, 2023 – The UAW is in hot water for failing to file required campaign finance reports after spending at least $50,000 in campaign advertisements supporting Gretchen Whitmer.
The advertisements, which ran on Facebook in the weeks leading up to the 2022 general election, expressly advocated for the election of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Michigan Campaign Finance Act requires organizations that make independent expenditures in excess of $100.01 to file a report with the Secretary of State. The complaint can be read in full here.
“UAW leadership has a track record of breaking the law, and these revelations that they have violated Michigan campaign finance law should be a shock to no one,” said Eric Ventimiglia, Executive Director for Michigan Rising Action. Ventimiglia continued, “This comes at a time when the UAW is calling on Democrats to take away worker freedoms and force workers to be members of their union, no matter how corrupt or inept they might be.”
The UAW has recently faced scrutiny, including guilty pleas for corrupt bargaining practices to embezzlement of union funds by union leadership. The unreported campaign advertisements in Michigan add to the organization’s $5.1 million in political spending in 2022, of which 99.5% went to Democrats.
Pro-Whitmer groups have previously been found in violation of Michigan Campaign Finance Laws for illegal ads in the 2018 general election.