Previous posts note Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI 10th) kicked-off her first term in the House of Representatives by introducing H.R. 831, a bill that would have by Act of Congress allowed the Bay Mills Indian Tribe to build a Las Vegas-style casino resort in Port Huron (350 miles away from the tribe’s Upper Peninsula reservation).
Newly uncovered detail indicates she followed that up with the first major fundraiser of her first term. It would end up being the second biggest fundraising day of her entire first term in the House. (See the chart below as reported at PoliticalMoneyLine.com).
Organizers and participants of the event were primarily those with financial ties to the Bay Mills Indian Casino proposal including Michael Malik and the Ilitch Family; attorneys from several of their law firms (Dykema Gossett and Ehrlich, Foley & Serwer); the daughter of the Bay Mills Tribe Chairman John Lufkins; other tribal representatives; community advocates and supporters like Richard Cummings who will gain financially by the proposed casino; and Ilitch public relations guy Tom Shields. That core group represented $25,500 of the total money raised. A smattering of other attorneys, friends, insurance brokers and property managers (all somehow connected), contributed the balance.
PoliticalMoneyLine for Congressional Quarterly
Rep. Candice Miller (D-MI) 108th Congress
| Top 10 Contributions by Date From Individuals | |||
| 1. | $62,000.00 | 55 | |
| 2. | $38,800.00 | 30 | |
| 3. | $25,280.00 | 46 | |
| 4. | $19,550.00 | 27 | |
| 5. | $18,300.00 | 32 | |
| 6. | $14,900.00 | 29 | |
| 7. | $13,400.00 | 31 | |
| 8. | $11,605.00 | 10 | |
| 9. | $11,600.00 | 25 | |
| 10. | $11,500.00 | 11 | |
A previous post highlighted 3/1/2003 as a day in which Malik and the Ilitch Family appeared to make bundled contributions to Rep. Miller but new details available indicate that day was much more significant than previously understood. There was no real financial support from Malik or the Ilitch Family for Rep. Miller’s first campaign for Congress; it came several months later, only after she introduced H.R. 831. After this event, Malik and the Ilitch Family would contribute and urge others to contribute to a different committee that Rep Miller had specially set up.
Since that first big fundraiser, Malik and the Ilitch Family alone contributed almost $75,000 directly to Rep. Miller’s committees. They also contributed heavily to the Republican National Committees that support Members of Congress.
It’s reported in the Lansing State Journal, Rep. Miller is taking a renewed interest in pushing the Port Huron Casino for the Bay Mills Indians (Malik and Ilitch).
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