Michigan Senate candidate Hill Harper unleashed a media firestorm when he posted on X that a wealthy political donor offered him $20 million to drop out of his race and primary Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
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“I didn’t intend for a private phone call to turn public,” wrote Hill, referencing an article from Politico about the call. “But now that it has, here’s the truth. One of AIPAC’s biggest donors offered $20m if I dropped out of the U.S. Senate race to run against @RashidaTlaib. I said no. I won’t be bossed, bullied, or bought.”
The Root sat down with Harper, who said that he spoke out because this is about a lot more than one donor.
“Fundamentally, it’s not about the call,” said Harper. “It’s about the fact that our system is broken, our democracy is broken, and everybody knows it. And fundamentally, everybody knows why. And it’s because of calls like that.”
Harper, a popular Black actor and attorney turned politician, says he’s running largely because of situations like this. “We’ve gotten away from one person, one vote. And we’ve gotten into a position of monied influence controls legislation and controls policy,” he says. “And in a Democracy, the way policy changes is when the public changes and that’s what my candidacy is about.”
“So no, I will not be bought off or bullied by money, whether it’s that call, the other calls that I’ve gotten, threatening to spend money against me, because I’m advocating for things that are against a certain type of special interest,” he said.
Although Harper said he didn’t want to dwell much on the call itself, he did explain what the donor, whom he identified as Linden Nelson, was after.
“It was pretty evident that he would get a two-for-benefit for the money spent,” he said. “One, they would eliminate me from running against a candidate that they support. And two, they would have me drop out of that race, the U.S. Senate race, to run against the candidate that they do not support and primary that sitting member.”
Hill added that while he wasn’t certain what was on the caller’s mind, it seemed clear that the call had to do with Rep. Tlaib’s, the only Palestinian in Congress, support for Palestinians. Ironically, Hill is one of the only Senate candidates calling for a ceasefire. “Over 71% of Michigan Democrats want a ceasefire. But less than 10% of congressional members have advocated for it,” he said. “I’m only one of two major US Senate candidates who has advocated for a ceasefire in the country.”
The Root reached out to Nelson for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
This isn’t just about one singular issue, though, says Harper. It’s about the totality of what happens when special interests get their way because they have deep pockets. “So, 93% of all elections are money determinative. What I mean by that is, the person who raises the most money wins,” he says.
The consequences of this system are apparent, Harper says. “Let’s just take one data point. In 2022, Big Pharma spent $373 million on political campaigns. And that’s an off-cycle, non-Presidential year,” he says. “I live in Detroit, and people wonder why their prescription medicine costs for life-saving drugs are 50% greater than 10 minutes away across the bridge [to Canada]... I mean, we understand this, and people understand it. And that’s why they’re checked out, and they’re frustrated, and they’re angry.”
Harper says that as a Senator, he’d make it his mission to do away with the Citizens United verdict, which opened the floodgates for “dark money” in politics.
“And so it’s not so much that the person calling, or the entities that are throwing so much money to control elections and control outcomes and control candidates are doing it,” he says, “The big question is, why are we allowing a system to exist, that allows for calls like that. That allows special interest, big corporate interest, and lobbies to hold more power than the people.”
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