Taking money from Police Unions is a Bi-partisan affair across the country and in Michigan

Earlier in the month we posted an article about the politicians and candidates from West Michigan that have taken money from the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association PAC. 

One observation from the data we found for candidates in the Greater Grand Rapids area, was that there were certainly candidates who ran as Republicans and Democrats that accepted money from the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association PAC. This dynamic of police unions contributing to both parties seems to be fairly consistent throughout the US, although at a national level, the Democrats have been getting more money from the Fraternal Order of Police, as you can see from this link on OpenSecrets.org. 

In our initial article on police union funding, we also posted a link to a statewide campaign No More Cop Money, which provides data and research capabilities on which politicians in Michigan have been on the receiving end of contributions from police unions. 

On the No More Cop Money site, they have a map of the US, which shows which states have more police union money going to it. The dollar amounts that accompany the map, also shows that Democrats have received a much larger portion of funds from police union than Republicans have, with Democrats getting $10,096,356 and Republicans getting $4,514,754. 

In Michigan, since 2015, GOP candidates are slightly ahead of Democrats on the receiving end of money from police unions, as can be seen in the graphic above. In addition, No More Cop Money also has a graphic showing which politicians in the state have received the most money since 2015 from the police unions, seen here below.

So whether we are talking about national, state or local politicians, it seems pretty clear that in the US, taking contributions from police unions is a bi-partisan affair.