Where does Mike Griffith get all that money?

Christopher (Mike) Griffith, one of our two current state delegates here in district 35A, has at least $121,877.27 in the bank account of his campaign committee. That would be an impressive amount for a Maryland state legislator who has fought several campaigns to gain or retain a seat.

But Delegate Griffith has done neither.

He was appointed to the legislature by former Governor Larry Hogan in 2020. Then in the 2022 election, Griffith ran unopposed. Since his appointment, he's raised $362,948.84 – four times what most GOP delegates have raised. In fact among Republican delegates, he's the 4th highest fundraiser.

Who is supporting Mike Griffith with so much cash? And why? Why donate thousands to a backbench delegate who has never needed to run in a contested election?

Maryland law restricts a person or business to donating a maximum of $6,000 to any candidate during any one election cycle. So, for example, someone could have donated $6,000 to Mike Griffith before the 2022 election, and then another $6,000 starting the following January. But there's another route to funneling money to candidates: through business entities.

We did the research and crunched the numbers.

Griffith is largely funded by the same people whose businesses convert open land to houses and apartment complexes. Here are some examples:

Griffith's employers.

• Griffith's top donor is James "J.D." Russell. Griffith worked for Russell's company, HPS Management from 2017 to 2019. HPS is a "commercial property management company" – the people who make money helping housing developments collect fees for home owners' associations. Entities controlled by Russell added $24,000 to Griffith's pot.
• Then from 2020-2022 Griffith was with Canvasback Title & Escrow, who gave him $3,000. Their lead, Bradley Stover, was attorney for one of the largest residential development projects in Aberdeen.
• Griffith then moved to Residential Title & Escrow Company, run by the Perlow family who also run HALP Land Development Corp. They were good for $8,500.
• Today Griffith appears to work as the Director of Business Development across two affiliated firms: Albers & Associates and Mid-Atlantic Title. Albers chipped in $6,000.

If you're keeping track, that's $41,500 just from the real estate ventures he has worked for.

Of course there's more. There are the real estate industry companies and investors Griffith hasn't worked for.

• $12,500 from the Goddard Companies, a Towson-based real-estate firm that's one of the most active commercial developers in Harford County. Their contributions arrived through five separate entities and Wayne Goddard personally. Goddard's Bel Air projects include Barrister's Row on Office Street, Baker House Residences, the Old Fields pocket park on Bond Street, and The Standard on Bond — a five-story mixed-use building under construction.
• $7,500 from DXI Construction and the Dixon family's Land Investment SAP, LLC. They clear the land for new buildings.
• $7,850 from real estate investor Roger Conley ($6,500), his Warfield Companies ($500), and Steven McCleaf ($850), Warfield's operating partner. Conley is the CEO of Brendan Ventures, a Bethesda-based private-equity firm investing in commercial real estate development
• $6,100 from Anchor Mechanical and Gabe Fetty. They do the HVAC and plumbing work for developers.
• $6,000 from Briarcliff Apartments East Limited Partnership. Owners of an apartment complex in Cockeysville.
• $5,200 from Richard Braver, and related firms. He's a landlord in Aberdeen, Bel Air, and Edgewood.
• $5,000 from Gemcraft Homes, a builder of new subdivisions in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, New Jersey and Virginia.
• $4,550 from BCV Commercial Real Estate. Their work is in their name.

We could go on. It gets tedious.

Maryland Realtors Political Action Committee, Buch Construction, Bel Air Village, Locksley Manor, Southfields of Elkton Development, National Association for Industrial and Office Parks Maryland PAC, Maryland Building Industry Association PAC, EBL Engineers, Tar Heel Construction Group, Keifer Enterprises, Bay State Land Services, Chesapeake Reconstruction Services, Streett Hopkins Real Estate, The Maryland Multi-Housing Association PAC, Craftsmen Land, Pinnacle Real Estate Sales, UrbanBuilt, Comer Construction ...

Seriously, there are more.

A lot of Mike Griffith's money comes from the folks who profit directly from converting land into houses, apartments, gas stations, and strip malls.

But there's more to his fundraising. What does he do with the money?
Watch this blog.

Sources & methodology

Campaign finance figures come from filings made by Friends of Christopher (Mike) Griffith with the Maryland State Board of Elections, accessed through the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System (MDCRIS). Contribution totals are computed across all reporting periods from the committee's inception through its most recent filing.

Comparison to other Republican delegate fundraising is computed from MDCRIS contribution records for all Maryland House of Delegates Republican committees, filtered to currently sitting members per the Maryland State Archives.

Mike Griffith's employment history is from his LinkedIn profile and his Maryland Manual delegate listing.

Corporate donor relationships and shared-address findings rely on filings with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) and OpenCorporates.

Richard Braver's property portfolio is per public mortgage and property records compiled by Elementix.

Bradley Stover's role in the 2021 Wetlands Golf Course annexation into Aberdeen was reported by The Baltimore Sun and Harford Political Watch.

The $6,000 per-cycle contribution limit is set by Maryland Code, Election Law § 13-226.