Senate hopeful Hill Harper says he was offered $20M to run against Rashida Tlaib instead
U.S. Senate hopeful Hill Harper said Wednesday he was offered a sizeable campaign donation from a Metro Detroit businessman if he dropped out of Michigan's Senate race and instead ran against Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit.
Harper confirmed the offer on social media Wednesday after Politico reported the situation earlier that day based on a source with direct knowledge of a phone call between Harper, an actor, and businessman Linden Nelson.
Harper said he "didn't intend for a private phone call to turn public," but he confirmed a large donor to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee offered him $20 million to run against Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress.
"I said no. I won’t be bossed, bullied, or bought," Harper said on X. "Yes, telling the truth here will put a target on my back. But if we ALL come together we can win."
Harper later said the offer was proof of a broken political system tilted toward the wealthy and evidence that "establishment donors" don't believe Harper's Senate Democratic primary opponent, U.S. Rep Elissa Slotkin of Holly, can defeat him.
"They see us as a threat," Harper said. "And they're right about that."
Politico reported Wednesday that Nelson called Harper on Oct. 16 to offer him $20 million in campaign contributions to run against Tlaib, who has come under fire for her repeated defense of Palestine in the weeks following the Hamas terror group's deadly attacks on Israeli citizens.
More:Tlaib says critics trying to silence her amid ceasefire push; new censures pushed
The campaign money, Politico reported, would have been split between $10 million in independent expenditures and $10 million toward Harper's campaign.
Such an exchange, if were ever agreed to, would violate federal campaign finance laws that prohibit a candidate from coordinating with anyone spending or promising to spend in excess of federal limits, said Suarav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at Campaign Legal Center.
"That’s exactly the kind of arrangement that campaign finance laws prohibit," Ghosh told The Detroit News.
From an ethical standpoint, Ghosh added, seeing any candidate so beholden to a single donor "creates the kind of corruption and influence, or the appearance thereof, that really undermines voters' trust in the democratic process.”
Tlaib's campaign declined to comment Wednesday.
Nelson, who did not return a call seeking comment, built his wealth developing and selling promotional items for a variety of businesses, such as Ford, AT&T and Harley Davidson. In recent years, Nelson and his son, Sanford, have specialized in commercial real estate, including key properties in Detroit's Eastern Market.
Nelson has a history of campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans, including Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township; Reps. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, and Bill Huizenga, R-Holland; and former U.S. Reps. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township; and Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, Federal Election Commission records show.
In 2020, Nelson donated to Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, who then was challenging Tlaib to a rematch in the Democratic primary. Tlaib won a second term with 66% of the vote to Jones' 34%.
AIPAC, which was reportedly trying to recently recruit a primary challenger against Tlaib, said Tuesday that it was "reviewing a number of races involving detractors of Israel."
"But we have made no decisions at this time," said Marshall Wittman, a spokesperson for AIPAC.
Still, Wittmann stressed that AIPAC was “absolutely not involved in any way in this matter."He said AIPAC’s records indicate that Nelson has not contributed to AIPAC in more than a decade.
Other members of Congress considered part of the "Squad" of progressive Democrats that Tlaib is grouped with are getting primary challengers, including Democratic U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
John Conyers III, son of the late congressman, said Wednesday he’s also been approached about running in the 12th District against Tlaib, though not by Nelson.Conyers, who previously ran for Congress in Detroit, said he’s considering another campaign but wouldn’t run in the 12th.Conyers said he interned at the Israeli embassy under Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that, “while I am a friend of the Jewish community, I am a Black man first and foremost and I cannot ignore the similarities of the Palestinian plight presently and that of Black Americans.”“It appears that Rashida Tlaib is the only member of the Michigan congressional delegation with the courage to say what we can all see. That Palestinians are being killed indiscriminately,” Conyers said.“Israel has a right ro exist and thrive, not to kill innocent civilians, most of whom were not alive or could not vote when Hamas took power. An immediate ceasefire is necessary. Primarying Rashida won’t change that truth.”
Progressive group Justice Democrats, a frequent critic of AIPAC, meanwhile, criticized the reported offer to Harper, arguing democracy should not be for sale to the "highest bidder."
"One thing is clear, the Republican-funded Israel lobby is desperate to silence the overwhelming majority of Democratic voters in Detroit that echo Congresswoman Tlaib's support for a ceasefire and opposition to sending military weapons to Israel to kill civilians with," said Usamah Andrabi, a spokeswoman for the group.
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