Major Republican donors to the Arizona and Michigan Republican Parties, who have each donated tens of thousands of dollars to the parties over the last six years, have ceased supplying funding because of Republican leaders' attempts to overturn 2020 election results, their support of losing candidates who tout Trump's election conspiracy theories and what they consider extreme views on issues like abortion, six benefactors told Reuters. "I question whether the state party has the necessary expertise to spend the money well," real estate mogul Ron Weiser, one of the Michigan party's biggest donors and a former chair of the party, told the outlet.
Despite Republicans' efforts to ramp up support in order to win back the battleground states that could determine whether they regain political power in the 2024 election, Arizona and Michigan's parties have been bleeding money in recent years, according to the outlet's review of financial filings and interviews with the donors and three election campaign experts. Arizona's Republican Party on March 31 had less than $50,000 in cash reserves in its state and federal bank accounts to spend on overhead expenses, compared to the $770,000 it had at the same point four years ago. And as of March 31, the total in the Michigan party's federal account amounted to $116,000, down from the nearly $867,000 it had two years ago. "They are effectively broke, and I don't see the clouds parting and the sun coming out on their fundraising abilities," Jason Roe, the former head of the Michigan GOP, told the outlet.
