Marlinga outraises James in recent filing, Democrats spending on 10th District race

Democratic former Macomb County judge and prosecutor Carl Marlinga outraised U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, in the most-recent reporting period, Federal Election Commission filings showed Wednesday.

James, who was first elected two years ago, still maintained a significant lead in terms of overall fundraising in the rematch between the two, having banked $7.8 million to Marlinga's $2.2 million. But it was still notable that Marlinga, who only raised a little over $1 million in total for the 2022 race, exceeded that in the most recent period, running from July 18 to Sept. 30.

During that time, Marlinga, of Sterling Heights, raised $1.6 million compared with $1.3 million for James.

Marlinga lost to James in the Macomb County-based 10th Congressional District by just 1,600 votes or about half of 1% of the vote two years ago, despite being outspent by James by a 6-1 margin and more than $1 million being spent on James' behalf by outside groups.

There were also strong indications that where Democratic groups largely stayed away from pouring resources into the James-Marlinga election two years ago that they are doing so now. A look at independent expenditure filings with the FEC indicated that at least $3.7 million has been spent by outside groups trying to help Marlinga and targeting James, including more than $3 million by House Majority PAC, a group that works to get Democrats elected to Congress.

At least $448,000 had been spent so far this election cycle on James' behalf by outside groups, most of that coming from Americans for Prosperity PAC, a conservative-aligned organization.

The 10th District includes much of southern Macomb County as well as Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on X @tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Carl Marlinga outraises John James in most recent fundraising filing