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Our call — vote NO
The measure
Proposal 2 is an initiated law — the "Mop Up Michigan" petition from Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, which submitted 561,282 signatures (356,958 required) and was certified by the Board of State Canvassers in July 2026. It amends the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, not the constitution, and passes by simple majority. Its official ballot summary states that it would prohibit regulated electric and gas utilities, contractors with over $250,000 annually in government contracts, and people and organizations with substantial connections to them, from making direct or indirect campaign contributions to those who run for or hold offices that impact them; expand the laws regulating spending on political communications, including donor-disclosure requirements, to communications that clearly identify candidates or ballot questions even without expressly advocating a vote; and expressly apply paid-for-by disclosure law to internet political communications.
What YES does
A YES vote enacts the bans and the expansions. Regulated utilities, their owners and top executives, and their affiliated groups could not contribute to candidates for governor, attorney general, or the legislature, to party committees, or to Public Service Commission members. Businesses holding more than $250,000 a year in government contracts, and their owners and executives, could not contribute to candidates in the government that awarded the contract (that part takes effect 18 months later). Groups spending $5,000 or more on ads naming a candidate in the months before an election would have to report the spending within 10 days; online political ads would carry "paid for by" disclaimers and AI-generated robocalls would have to disclose they are AI-generated. The law has a severability clause: if a court strikes one part, the rest stands.
What NO does
A NO vote leaves the Michigan Campaign Finance Act as it is. Utilities and contractors may contribute under the existing limits and disclosure rules — under current Michigan law PACs may give up to ten times the individual cap per candidate ($12,250 to an individual's $1,225 in 2024) — and communications that do not expressly advocate a vote remain outside the campaign-finance disclosure regime.
The math
None published. This is a regulatory measure, not a spending measure; the Senate Fiscal Agency published a legislative analysis of the proposal's provisions, and no dollar fiscal estimate accompanies the measure in the sources for this article.
OUR CALL
Our call: NO.
The supporters' grievance is real, and we print it as they make it: monopoly utilities and large contractors give money to the very officials who regulate them and award their contracts, and voters should know who is paying. But what Proposal 2 actually does is ban an entire class of speakers — defined in part by the vague phrase "substantial connections" — from contributing at all, and then stretch the state's disclosure machinery over issue communications that never ask for a vote, exposing the donors of nonprofit advocacy groups that merely name a candidate while discussing policy. Campaign contributions are protected political speech; as the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council's analysis notes, under the standard in place since Citizens United the state may punish an actual quid pro quo — it may not silence disfavored speakers because their participation looks like influence — and the Council predicts legal challenges if this passes. Pay-to-play corruption is already a crime; bribery law is the tool for it. A speech ban aimed at who the speaker is, enforced through language this loose, is the wrong tool, and it will chill far more speech than the utilities' checks it was written to stop. Vote NO.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency — Ballot Proposal 26-2 legislative analysis — the sections of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act amended, and the official ballot language quoted above — https://sfa.senate.michigan.gov/Publications/BallotProps/Proposal26-2.pdf
- Wikipedia — 2026 Michigan Proposal 2 — initiative background (Michiganders for Money Out of Politics), 561,282 signatures submitted vs. 356,958 required, 3–1 canvasser certification, PAC-vs-individual contribution caps under current law — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Michigan_Proposal_2
- Michigan League of Conservation Voters — 2026 ballot proposals guide (supporting) — the provision-by-provision effects of a YES vote, including the $5,000/10-day reporting rule, internet disclaimers, AI-robocall disclosure, and the 18-month delay for the contractor provision — https://www.michiganlcv.org/your-guide-to-michigans-2026-ballot-proposals/
- WCMU — Citizens Research Council analysis — contributions as protected speech absent quid pro quo, predicted legal challenges, severability clause — https://www.wcmu.org/local-regional-news/2026-09-29/michigan-research-council-predicts-legal-challenges-if-money-out-of-politics-campaign-succeeds
- People United for Privacy — analysis of Proposal 2026-2 (opposing) — the expansion of regulated speech to issue communications and the donor-exposure risk for nonprofit organizations — https://unitedforprivacy.com/mop-up-michigan-prop-2026-2-throwing-nonprofit-advocacy-and-donor-privacy-out-with-the-mop-water/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.