Candidates for the 69th District seat in the state House of Representatives received money from parents, family and some political action committees, according to campaign finance reports released Friday.
The information, provided by the Michigan Secretary of State, details how much the candidates received in donations and how much they spent running their campaigns.
The numbers for contributions are for the last period that the candidates had to report before the primary.
The five candidates — Republicans John Knowles and John Currie, and Democrats Mark Meadows, Mary Lindemann and Jeffrey Abood — will be on the ballot for the Aug. 8 primary. One candidate from each party will advance to the general election on Nov. 7.
Of the candidates, Meadows raised the most money, followed by Lindemann, Knowles, Abood and Currie.
Meadows, who raised $57,951, said he probably raised more money than others because of his experience.
"I've been in politics a lengthy period of time, and people have seen me in action and seen how I handle myself and decided investing in my campaign was a good thing to do," Meadows said.
Meadows said he had a financial director who was familiar with interest groups and lobbying firms, which helped him raise money.
Meadows' two biggest donations came from UAW Michigan V-Political Action Committee and Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association — each gave him $2,500.
Meadows said he received most of his money from individual people, including several East Lansing City Council members.
"My campaign strategy is not very complicated; it's to get my message out to people and knock on as many doors as possible," Meadows said. "It just involved a lot of sweat equity."
Lindemann, who raised the second highest amount of money at $47,999, said she received donations from organizations and individuals who share her values.
Her largest contributor was the Michigan Education Association, or MEA, which gave $4,990.
"It's our base cohorts, and it's every group that makes up the liberal Democratic Party," Lindemann said. "We look at fundraising in those groups, and one group at a time, we ask for support."
She said she received money from groups like the MEA because her beliefs on education issues reflect the group's.
Lindemann is a former educator in the Battle Creek school system.
"We did pretty well for a grassroots campaign," Lindemann said.
Several of the candidates, including Currie, started their fundraising close to home.
"My plan for the primary was to raise money from close friends and family members to fund it, so I focused on that," Currie said.
Currie raised $9,260, and his biggest contributor was himself — according to the records, he gave the campaign $1,000 during this reporting period.
Currie said if he wins the primary, he will ask members of the community, as well as people from the business community, for financial support.
Knowles said he started fundraising by asking for money from friends, family, fellow Republicans and people he knows through community, volunteer and neighborhood activities.
He raised $15,590 and his largest contributor was his mother, Karen Knowles, who gave him $500. Others who gave to the Knowles campaign were East Lansing City Council member Vic Loomis, who contributed $50.
Knowles then started asking for donations from people he met at campaign events.
"One thing I learned is that you don't make any money unless you ask," Knowles said. "I believe so strongly in the message of the campaign that I have no fear of asking people to contribute to the cause, whether I've known them or just met them."
Other candidates also said their campaign contributions came from family.
Abood, who raised $13,820, was the largest contributor to his campaign — according to the records for this reporting period, he contributed $9,020.
Other contributors included his parents and Nancy Kurdziel, president of Prime Housing Group, who gave $500.
Abood said his fundraising strategy was simple: He went to family first and didn't ask other people for money.
"Other politicians told me the first thing to do is ask people for money, but I asked for their vote and support," Abood said. "It was all grassroots. I worked out of my car most of the time."
Rebecca McNulty can be reached at mcnult13@msu.edu
