10/28/2006

McManus money flows

She accepts cash from Allen opponent

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

TRAVERSE CITY — State Sen. Michelle McManus of Lake Leelanau accepted $9,500 in contributions from a downstate senator who's battling her fellow northern Michigan senator, Jason Allen of Traverse City, for Republican leadership of the state Senate.

The contributions from Sen. Mike Bishop's political action committee doubled the amount McManus raised this year in her leadership fund, state campaign finance records show.

The donation allowed McManus to give Sen. Tom George, R-Portage, a $9,900 contribution nine days after she received money from Bishop.

Bishop's two political action committees had given George, who's in a hotly contested race, the maximum $10,000 contribution allowed by state law.

If Bishop, of Oakland County, gave money to McManus to pass on to George, both would both be violating state campaign laws, said Rich Robinson, executive director of the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

"If you could establish with physical evidence that it was earmarked for that purpose, that would be illegal, but I don't know how you would ever prove it," Robinson said. "Money moves from committee to committee all the time, and you just can't tell where a given dollar stops."

Robinson said it appears money routinely is moved through committees to bypass contribution limits but there's no way to prove it unless its acknowledged by the involved individuals.

McManus said she gave to George because he's being hard hit in his re-election bid.

"I'm working hard for all candidates, and Tom George is in a critical race," she said.

George's 20th Senate District seat is one of a handful of targeted races that will determine if Republicans maintain control of the state Senate.

Bishop is in a race with Allen to become the next Majority Leader if Republicans maintain control of the Senate. The Majority Leader determines committee assignments and if legislation will be brought up for a vote. Allen was considered the early favorite, but some Lansing pundits now put him behind Bishop.

McManus has numerous financial connections to Bishop, including an additional $1,000 campaign contribution and a $573 payment from McManus to Bishop's committee for catering one of her fundraisers, but maintains she hasn't decided who to back in the Senate leader's race.