Established Fact
Of Michigan’s 135 CTCL grant recipients above the $5,000 minimum, 90 were jurisdictions won by Joe Biden in 2020 — receiving $14.6 million, or 86 percent of all CTCL funds distributed in the state — while the 45 Trump-plurality recipients received just 14 percent. The largest awards went to urban centers with strong Democratic voting histories: Detroit received $7.4 million, Lansing $488,390, Muskegon $433,580, Ann Arbor $417,268, and Saginaw $402,878 — all jurisdictions located in counties carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, with the exception of Saginaw County, which Trump carried by 1,073 votes. CTCL’s 39 largest per-capita grant recipients in Michigan were all cities won by Biden; those cities provided Biden with approximately one million votes, or nearly one-third of his statewide total. Rural, Republican-leaning areas received grants at dramatically lower per-capita rates: the minimum $5,000 award — sufficient for PPE and sanitation supplies but not drop box infrastructure — was the norm outside urban centers.
Citations
Capital Research Center, Shining a Light on Zuck Bucks in the 2020 Battleground States — Michigan (updated January 18, 2022): “CTCL distributed a total of 135 grants above the $5,000 minimum to Michigan cities and townships. Out of these grants just 45 of the recipient localities were won by Trump, while 90 were won by Biden. Together these 90 municipalities received $14.6 million or 86 percent of all CTCL funds in Michigan…. CTCL’s 39 largest per capita grants all went to cities which Biden won. These 39 cities gave Biden approximately 1 million votes, a little under one-third of all votes he received across Michigan.” Available at: https://capitalresearch.org/article/shining-a-light-on-zuck-bucks-in-key-states/
Capital Research Center, CTCL Michigan Grants Data (IRS Form 990): Detroit $7,436,450; Lansing $488,390; Muskegon $433,580; Ann Arbor $417,268; Saginaw $402,878. Available at: https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CTCL-Michigan-Updated-Data-Set-from-990.xlsx
2016 Michigan Presidential Election Results by County (New York Times / Wikipedia): Wayne County (Detroit) — Clinton 519,444, Trump 228,993; Genesee County (Flint) — Clinton 102,751, Trump 84,175; Ingham County (Lansing) — Clinton 79,110, Trump 43,868; Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor) — Clinton 128,483, Trump 50,631; Saginaw County — Trump 45,469, Clinton 44,396 (margin: 1,073 votes, 1.13 percentage points). [Note: These are county-level results. The CTCL grants were awarded to the cities, not the counties; Saginaw city itself was almost certainly Clinton-plurality despite Saginaw County’s narrow Trump margin.] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/michigan-president-clinton-trump
Bridge Michigan, ‘Zuckerberg Bucks’ fuel Michigan GOP push to ban private funds for elections (June 4, 2021): “Officials in 465 Michigan cities, townships and counties applied for and received ‘COVID-19 response’ grants from CTCL…. Detroit, the state’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold, got the biggest award by far: $3.5 million…. Hundreds of other communities received grants of at least $5,000, the minimum provided by the group.” [Note: Bridge Michigan’s $3.5M figure for Detroit appears to have been drawn from pre-990 disclosures; the Form 990 shows $7,436,450.] Available at: https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/zuckerberg-bucks-fuel-michigan-gop-push-ban-private-funds-elections/