Here in Michigan, as rents skyrocket and affordable housing dwindles, some politicians keep cashing checks while counties are left to manage the human fallout: rising homelessness.
Politicians are too busy padding their own pockets, with ‘Dark money’ groups and the ultrawealthy made up the largest donors in Michigan state politics for the 2024 election, with the DeVos family topping that list.
But here’s the twist: while lawmakers fail, some sheriffs are stepping up. Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton recently announced that he will not criminalize homelessness, even after a Trump-era federal directive pushed local law enforcement to do just that.
It’s a rare moment of humanity in a political landscape otherwise dominated by money.
The PAC Playbook: Profits Over People
The Friends of Housing PAC, operated by the Home Builders Association of Michigan, has one mission: elect candidates who will deregulate zoning, fast-track development, and avoid affordable housing mandates.
The Realtors PAC of Michigan works the same exact way, spreading contributions to both parties to ensure access and influence. As watchdogs have reported, this steady flow of realtor and builder dollars buys silence on tenant protections and guarantees that “housing policy” means market growth, not affordability
In 2024 data compiled by GRIID and verified through Transparency USA records, the numbers are incredibly telling of who is buying who. The Realtors PAC of Michigan made contributions to hundreds of different candidates. This is a sampling of some of the contributions Realtors PAC of Michigan made in 2024:
- National RPAC – $34,650.00
- House Republican Campaign Committee – $32,875.00
- Michigan House Democratic Fund – $22,875.00
- Andrew Fink for MI Supreme Court – $20,000.00
- Kyra Harris Bolden for – MI Supreme Court – $20,000.00
- Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $15,000.00
- Transformational Leadership Fund – $10,000.00
- Greater Kalamazoo Assoc. of Realtors – $5,748.63
- MI Forward Fund – $5,500.00
Contributions to candidates from Kent County and Grand Rapids, particularly those who were on the August 6, 2024 Primary Ballot:
- Fitzgerald for Michigan PAC – $3,500.00
- Committee to Elect Kristian Grant – $3,000.00
- Lindsey Thiel for Kent County Commissioner – $2,000.00
- Dan Burrill or Kent County Commissioner – $1750.00
- Friends of Bryan Posthumus – $1,500.00
- Friends of Phil Skaggs – $1,500.00
- Robin Halsted for Kent County Commissioner – $1,500.00
- Committee to Elect Gina Johnsen – $1,500.00
- Dean Pacific 1st Ward Grand Rapids City Commissioner – $1,400.00
- Friends of John Fitzgerald – $1,250.00
- Huizenga for MI Leadership – $1,000.00
- Friends of Stephen Wooden – $1,000.00
- David LaGrand for Mayor of Grand Rapids – $1,000.00
- Committee to Elect Angela Rigas – $750.00
- Ben Greene for Kent County Commissioner – $750.00
- Citizens for Stan Ponstein – $750.00
- Monica Sparks for Kent County Commissioner – $750.00
- Stan Stek for Kent County Commissioner – $750.00
- Katie DeBoer for Kent County Commissioner – $550.00
- Brinks Majority Fund – $500.00
- Roger Victory for State Senate – $500.00
- Lisa Posthumus Lyons for Kent County Clerk – $500.00
- Peter MacGregor for Kent County Treasurer – $500.00
- Bing Goei for 3rd Ward GR City Commission – $400.00
- Carol Hennessey for Kent County Commission – $250.00
- Dave Hildenbrand for State Senate – $250.00
- Elizabeth Morse for Kent County Commission – $250.00
- Michelle McCloud for Kent County Commission – $250.00
- Robert Womack for Kent County Commission – $250.00
- Melissa LaGrand for Kent County Commission – $250.00
The data from 2017 to now is even more telling.
The result? Politicians pander to their funders and homes built for profit margins, not people. Starter homes and workforce housing take a back seat to luxury developments and speculative projects.
Politicians Who Benefit Most
This isn’t abstract. The money trail is clear:
- More than 60% of campaign funding for Michigan lawmakers comes from PACs—not their constituents. On average, only 14% comes from local voters.
- 36 state lawmakers received more than 75% of their campaign cash from PACs, effectively making them industry-funded candidates. Suddenly explains why elected leaders ignore their constituents, huh? Because they never worked for or cared about you at all.
Consider State Rep. Sarah Lightner (R–Springport). In one cycle, 94% of her campaign funding came from PACs, including business and industry groups.
That’s not grassroots support; it’s corporate welfare and dependency.
By contrast, Sen. Jeff Irwin (D–Ann Arbor) has been one of the few voices calling out Lansing’s PAC culture, warning against “undisclosed slush funds” and pushing reforms to return power to voters.
Speaker Matt Hall most definitely won’t let that happen, as he too, has received most of his campaign funds from PACs or wealthy power-players.
The Human Cost of PAC Politics
While politicians cash industry checks, Michigan families pay the price.
- The University of Michigan has labeled this a “housing crisis,” pointing to affordability gaps, rising rents, and racial disparities in homeownership.
- Even the Home Builders Association itself admits Michigan doesn’t have enough housing to meet thier workforce demand. But they don’t care enough to do anything about it.
And when families fall through the cracks, they don’t land in a safety net; they land in the criminal legal system.
Sheriffs Choosing Humanity Over Criminalization
That’s why Sheriff Jerry Clayton’s announcement matters. In Washtenaw County, he has refused to arrest or harass unhoused people simply for existing in public spaces.
His stance is both compassionate and practical: homelessness is not a crime, it’s an outright failure of public policy. Locking people up won’t create housing. It only deepens trauma, wastes taxpayer dollars, and burdens courts and jails.
In a system where lawmakers bow to developers, it’s sheriffs like Clayton who are reminding Michigan that leadership can mean protecting people, not PAC profits.
Call to Action: Break the Cycle
This crisis is solvable, but only if voters cut through the PAC stranglehold:
- Follow the Money
- Before you vote, check your legislator’s campaign finance reports. If 70–90% of their funding comes from PACs, ask: who are they really serving? Spoiler alert: NOT YOU.
- Support Leaders With Integrity
- Back candidates who reject industry money and advocate for affordable housing, tenant protections, and zoning reform. Tell the rich schmucks destroying Michigan families go fly a kite on their yacht with the DeVos’.
- Stand With Compassionate Leadership
- Praise and support leaders like Sheriff Clayton who refuse to criminalize poverty. Demand the same from your city council, county commissioners, and state representatives.
- Push for Reform
- Demand caps on PAC contributions.
- Advocate for public financing or small-donor matching to give real candidates a platform and voters a voice.
- Push for inclusionary zoning and investment in affordable housing stock, not just luxury development.
Pulling It All Together
Michigan’s housing crisis didn’t just “happen.” It was bought and paid for by builder and realtor PACs, and it continues because the politicians who “work for us” benefit more from campaign checks than from serving their constituents.
They get to go home to their nice fancy homes while people sleep in the street tonight and that is downright shameful.
But the example of Sheriff Jerry Clayton gives me hope; it shows that compassion and integrity are still possible. Homelessness doesn’t have to be criminalized; it can be solved. The real question is whether voters will demand leaders who serve people, not PACs.
The future of Michigan housing and Michigan’s democracy depends on it.
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