Former Ann Arbor City Councilmember Julie Grand filed a formal complaint to the Michigan Department of State on July 17 accusing Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi of campaign finance violations. Rabhi is facing incumbent Mayor Christopher Taylor in the Democratic primary on Aug. 4.
In early July, Rabhi’s committee — Yousef Rabhi for Ann Arbor — distributed mailers throughout the city outlining his platform. The mailers contained a section supporting various City Council candidates: Teesha Montague, Ryan Bartholomew, Dave Zeglen and Greg Monroe were promoted in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
Grand, a supporter of Taylor, filed the complaint claiming Rabhi violated sections 44(2) and 71(2) of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, which state candidate committees cannot spend money on purposes other than to support their candidate’s election. These sections prohibit contributions to other candidates’ committees.
While endorsements are not considered contributions — both Rabhi and Taylor have endorsed candidates in the City Council races — the Michigan Campaign Finance Candidate Manual states “the expense to communicate the endorsement may be considered a contribution to a candidate committee.” For that reason, endorsements are typically communicated to voters by the candidates being endorsed.
The MCFA defines contributions as “anything of ascertainable monetary value … made for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of a candidate.” In-kind contributions, however, are defined as “goods, services and facilities donated or loaned to the committee at no cost or at a discount.” Candidates are not allowed to make contributions of either kind.
Grand argued the mailers used by Rabhi’s committee have monetary value, and simultaneously promoted the endorsements of other candidates.
“In circulating each mailer to four of the five wards within the City of Ann Arbor, Yousef Rabhi for Ann Arbor violated the Michigan Election Law by contributing to each other candidate,” Grand wrote. “Yousef Rabhi for Ann Arbor’s mailers constitute in-kind contributions to each of the four City Council candidate committees — they are contributions other than money with ascertainable monetary value, i.e., the amount of money spent to design, print, and send each mailer.”
However, Rabhi’s campaign provided evidence that the state approved the mailers beforehand. Zeglen emailed Deputy County Clerk James Allen in April asking whether Rabhi’s mailers would violate campaign finance laws. In the email, Allen wrote violations were a possibility, but reported that the state said mailers wouldn’t count as contributions.
“I just got off the phone with someone from the state and they said you and Ryan Bartholomew would not have to do anything because it is Mr. Rabhi’s mailers,” Allen wrote. “I even asked if it was considered an ‘in-kind’ contribution and was told it was not.”
While candidate committees aren’t allowed to donate to other candidate committees, candidates themselves are allowed to make contributions — and have done so.
In 2020, Taylor sent an email and made a Facebook post supporting a slate of City Council candidates, though this communication was not paid for by his committee. The slate included Councilmembers Lisa Disch, D-Ward 1, Travis Radina, D-Ward 3, Jen Eyer, D-Ward 4 and Erica Briggs, D-Ward 5, as well as former Ward 2 Councilmember Linh Song. Radina counted the email as a service with monetary value, listing it as a $166 in-kind contribution for “email promotion.”
Taylor faced a complaint during his 2022 mayoral re-election campaign for using Facebook ads to support the five candidates in 2020. Taylor also failed to report Facebook ads in his campaign finance reports during the 2018 election campaign, which he later stated was because he paid for them with a personal credit card and forgot to disclose them.
Candidates in violation of the MCFA mid-campaign are typically not removed from the ballot and are still able to assume public office. Candidates can be removed, however, if they have outstanding violations going into their next election. All candidates running for office must sign an affidavit affirming MCFA statements are filed and fines are paid; if they lie on the form, they can be charged with perjury and be disqualified.
Campaign finance violations are common: A 2017 report from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network stated half of Michigan state lawmakers had paid fines for not following requirements.
The Michigan Department of State sent a letter to Rabhi on Monday informing him of the complaint. In the letter, the department wrote joint advertisements are allowed, but costs must be shared between the two candidates.
“This prohibition bars a candidate committee from creating materials advocating for the election of any other candidate, even if the material includes advocacy for the candidate associated with the committee too,” the letter read. “If candidate committees wish to run joint advertisements or create joint signage, the candidate committees must share the cost of the advertisement or sign in proportion to the benefit accrued by each candidate.”
According to campaign finance reports, the candidates involved have shared campaign costs throughout June and July. Rabhi — whose committee spent $18,878.45 on a June 29 mailer — listed debts he is owed from the committees of Montague, Bartholomew, Zeglen and Monroe as “reimbursement for paid communications.” Monroe’s report lists a debt of $591.37 to Rabhi for “campaign,” while Bartholomew’s report lists a $390.24 debt for “share of mailer” on June 29.
Despite the evidence provided by Rabhi’s campaign, Grand maintains he violated state law. In an email to The Michigan Daily, Grand wrote she believes the violations gave unfair advantages to candidates endorsed by Rabhi.
“The complaint matters because violating the campaign finance rules provides one candidate with an unfair advantage over the other,” Grand wrote. “That being said, there are broader and related concerns that speak to integrity, attention to detail, and leadership. Yousef Rabhi has been in elected office for his entire adult life. He should know the basic rules of campaign finance.”
Rabhi’s campaign is required to respond within 15 days of receiving the complaint letter, which will lapse after the Aug. 4 primary. He faces up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine if he is found to have knowingly violated state law.
Daily News Editor Dominic Apap can be reached at dapap@umich.edu.
