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Rhinoceros Media

Series · 6 posts

The Chamber Network

The Lansing Regional Chamber, MRDC, dark money, astroturf, and the route from corporate spending to local political outcomes.

  1. MoneyGovernment

    Lansing: How the Chamber's PAC Shapes Who Governs and What Gets Built

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 11, 2026

    The Lansing Regional Chamber operates LRC-PAC, which has contributed $30,750 to six of eight sitting council members, with endorsed candidates winning 92 percent in the 2024 primary and 86 percent in the 2025 general. Three Chamber executives, Tim Daman (CEO and PAC treasurer), Steve Japinga (SVP of Public Affairs and PAC contact), and Josh Hovey (Bellwether PR partner and PAC committee member), hold overlapping roles across Chamber lobbying, PAC giving, and developer advocacy with no firewall.

  2. Money

    Lansing: The Chamber Funds Campaigns, Runs Advocacy, and Reports $0 in Political Spending

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 14, 2026

    The Lansing Regional Chamber's 2024 IRS Form 990 reports $0 in political campaign activity. The same organization operates LRC-PAC, which has contributed $30,750 to six of eight sitting council members, links from its homepage to the platform that generated 12 template letters supporting Deep Green, and lists "Increase LRCC PAC donors by 10%" as a 2025 Strategic Plan goal. The 990 also reports $311,344 in "Other fees for services," 15.2 percent of total expenses, with no vendor names.

  3. MoneyGovernment

    Lansing: How Organic Is the Support for Deep Green?

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 14, 2026

    Seven of the 12 template letters supporting the Deep Green data center, all generated through The Soft Edge platform and submitted to the City Council, came from senders with documented Lansing Regional Chamber ties: members, a 2026 Community Service Award recipient, a 2025 Policy Committee member, the Local 333 Business Manager quoted in the Chamber's February 10 release, and the Chamber's own SVP of Public Affairs. The Chamber published four supporting press releases without disclosure.

  4. MoneyEnergy

    Michigan's New Data Center "Information" Coalition Has the Hallmarks of an Astroturf Campaign

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 20, 2026

    Michigan for Responsible Data Centers, a 17-member coalition that launched March 19, 2026 promising "clear, accurate information about data centers," has its website managed by Andie Poole of Bellwether Public Relations, the firm that represents Deep Green. The cited Anderson Economic Group analysis was paid for by Consumers Energy, itself a coalition member, and Anderson is also a Bellwether client. The companion University of Michigan guidebook was reviewed by Consumers and DTE employees.

  5. MoneyEnergy

    Can Michigan Communities Trust the Data Center Coalition's "Independent" Information?

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 21, 2026

    Several Michigan for Responsible Data Centers coalition members fund the campaigns of officials who vote on data center approvals through nonprofit intermediaries that do not disclose donors. In FY2022, coalition member Operating Engineers Local 324 granted $250,000 to Road to Michigan's Future, a 501(c)(4) whose officers are former Lt. Gov. John Cherry and former state rep Robert Emerson. RTMF then sent $5.5 million to Put Michigan First, the Super PAC backing Whitmer's reelection.

  6. EnergyMoney

    How Consumers Energy's $43 Million Dark Money Operation Reaches Lansing City Hall

    Rhinoceros NewsroomMar 25, 2026

    Between 2014 and 2017, Consumers Energy funneled $43.5 million into a single anonymous nonprofit, Citizens for Energizing Michigan's Economy. In 2022, CEME gave $200,000 to Citizens for a Better Michigan, a 501(c)(4) registered at 428 W Lenawee St in Lansing whose president at the time was Reid Felsing, an attorney who incorporated at least 17 anonymous political nonprofits at that address before Governor Whitmer appointed him to the Eaton County district-court bench in December 2024.

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