The final Michigan Democratic Senate debate leading up to the August 4 primary was marked by intense exchanges regarding campaign finance, personal integrity, and electability.
U.S. Representative Haley Stevens and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed are engaged in a closely watched contest. The race has, at times, become personal and has attracted approximately $70 million in advertising.
During the July 27 debate on WJBK Fox 2 Detroit, moderator Roop Raj questioned Stevens about receiving donations from DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, two prominent Michigan utility providers. Stevens responded with a denial, followed by information unrelated to the question. Raj reiterated the request for a direct answer on whether she was accepting money from utilities. Stevens stated, “I said no.”
El-Sayed expressed surprise and challenged her response, remarking, “I don’t know how to explain $40,000 directly to her campaign from DTE.”
Both candidates’ statements require further examination to provide a complete picture of Stevens’ campaign donations from utility companies.
Has Stevens received campaign donations from utility companies?
Federal Election Commission records for Stevens’ Senate campaign show two $2,500 donations on March 24, 2025, from corporate political action committees associated with DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. A corporate PAC is funded by voluntary employee contributions, not directly by the corporation.
These contributions were not made directly to Stevens’ Senate campaign. Instead, the corporate PACs initially donated to her House campaign committee before she announced her Senate candidacy. According to a July 2025 FEC filing, Stevens then transferred these funds from her House campaign committee to her Senate committee. This practice is common for politicians seeking new offices.
Prior to these transfers, DTE’s PAC had contributed $2,500 to Stevens’ congressional committee in February 2025, and Consumers had donated $1,000. Neither of these specific donations were transferred to her Senate committee.
When asked if she considered the transferred donations as received from these corporate PACs, Stevens’ campaign stated that the debate question specifically addressed the Senate campaign’s direct receipts, and that the donations were made to her House campaign prior to her Senate bid.
While this distinction is legally valid, legal experts suggest Stevens’ explanation does not present the full context. Penn State law professor Stanley Brand noted that while she might be technically correct, “as a matter of discretion, it may expose her to a political attack, that she’s not being 100% forthright.” Justin Buchler, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University, commented that the distinction is “thin,” and that while her principal Senate committee might not have directly accepted the donations, the earlier acceptance by her principal House committee makes the claim of not having taken donations from utilities “hair splitting.”
In post-debate interviews, both candidates addressed the issue. Stevens reiterated that the question was specific to the Senate race. El-Sayed countered that the origin of the funds mattered, arguing that if money is taken by one campaign committee and then transferred to another, it is effectively received.
Regarding El-Sayed’s assertion of $40,000 in utility donations to Stevens:
This figure is largely accurate but combines donations from different sources and over a longer period. DTE’s PAC has contributed this amount to Stevens and her leadership PAC over seven years, not solely during her current Senate campaign.
A leadership PAC is established by a member of Congress to support other candidates and is legally separate from their personal campaign committee. Federal law limits donations from leadership PACs to candidates’ campaigns to $5,000 per election.
Since 2019, when Stevens was first elected to Congress, DTE’s PAC has contributed a total of $35,000 to her congressional campaign committee across four election cycles. Additionally, the PAC donated $10,000 to her leadership PAC, HMS Scrap PAC.
Assessment:
Stevens stated that her U.S. Senate campaign has not received donations directly from two major Michigan utility companies. While the companies’ PACs did not issue checks directly to her Senate campaign, donations made by these PACs during the 2025-2026 election cycle were subsequently transferred to her Senate committee’s account. This statement contains a partial truth but omits significant details. It is rated as Mostly False.