Campaign finances can offer candidates a boost in advertising, but that doesn’t always translate to better polling. At least not in the case of the Republican race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.
With Sandy Pensler bowing out as a Republican candidate, the effects of the race’s campaign spending are coming into focus.
The Grosse Pointe-based businessman dropped out of the race before endorsing his former rival Mike Rogers.
Pensler had raised about $40,000 more than Rogers during his campaign and spent nearly $1.5 million more, according to a campaign finance report from Open Secrets.
WKAR-TV’s Off the Record Host Tim Skubick says Pensler wasn’t seeing a high enough return in the polls.
“He put a ton of his own money in, so you give him credit for that he fought the good fight. But at the end of the day, the numbers just were not moving," Skubick said. "If you're stuck at around two or three percent, even the silliest politician would conclude this is not working, let's bail out.”
As of June 30, Pensler had spent nearly $4 million. Meanwhile, Rogers had spent $2.4 million.
Democrat Elissa Slotkin has outraised and outspent all candidates in the U.S. Senate race, having amassed $22 million and spending just over half that amount.
