Danny DeVito, Barbra Streisand and other Hollywood figures have funneled thousands into Michigan Democrat campaigns, cash lifting progressive contenders in a key battleground state.
Breitbart News reported that federal campaign finance records, as tracked by the Detroit News, show a wave of celebrity money moving into Michigan races. The largest Hollywood checks went to Democrat candidates, not the other way around.
Senate hopeful Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed drew the heaviest star support. Actor Danny DeVito gave his campaign $3,500. Rapper Macklemore added $7,000.
Actress Susan Sarandon chipped in $1,050. Actor Matthew Lillard and author Judy Blume each sent $1,000. That is more than $13,500 from a short list of entertainment names alone.
Barbra Streisand split her giving between two Democrat U.S. House candidates. She donated $2,000 to Christina Hines and another $2,000 to William Lawrence, the records show.
Edsel Ford II, great-grandson of Henry Ford and a former Ford Motor Co. board member, put $10,000 behind two Democrat House candidates. HGTV host Carter Oosterhouse also backed Democrat House candidate Callie Barr; the reported amount was not listed.
The pattern is plain. Out-of-state fame and fortune are landing in Michigan Democrat accounts ahead of competitive races. Voters in the state did not ask Hollywood to pick their candidates. The checks arrived anyway.
Republican candidates received money as well, mostly from business and sports figures, not film and music celebrities. Former White House press secretary Anthony Scaramucci donated $3,000 to Republican Bill Huizenga.
Racing executive Roger Penske gave $7,000 to Republican Michael Bouchard. Ross Perot added $3,500 to Bouchard’s haul. Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini sent $10,000 to GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
Orlando Magic chairman Daniel DeVos donated $21,400 across four Republican candidates. WWE co-founder and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon gave $28,000 to four Michigan Republican House candidates.
Those sums are real. They also came from a different bench. The Hollywood roster lined up behind Democrats. The bigger GOP totals came from industry and sports owners, not red-carpet regulars.
Campaign finance law allows these donations within federal limits. Records make the flow public for a reason. When a singer, a comic actor, a rapper, and a children’s author all pen checks to the same Michigan Senate bid, the signal is not subtle.
El-Sayed’s Hollywood cluster stands out. DeVito, Macklemore, Sarandon, Lillard, and Blume did not scatter their money at random. They concentrated it. Streisand’s twin House gifts point the same direction, Democrat candidates first.
Ford money on the Democrat House side adds another layer. A name tied to Michigan’s industrial story is now underwriting Democrat campaigns with five figures. That is a choice, and the filings capture it.
No donation dates appear in the public rundown tied to this reporting. No candidate statements on the gifts were included. The dollar figures and the names are what the records put on paper.
Michigan remains a battleground. House seats and a Senate race pull national attention and national money. Coastal celebrities have decided which side of that fight they prefer to fund.
Taxpayers and primary voters still live with the results. They do not live in the same ZIP codes as the donors. They will cast the ballots that actually count.
Hollywood can mail the checks. Michigan voters still decide whether the product is worth buying.
