He speaks in a sober and serious tone and presents himself as a sober family man. When asked about his family life by an interviewer, he said his “children are all grown ups”, adding that “I think of my grandchildren” in battles he engages.
But his family life was rocky. He has been married four times and estranged from two adult children for more than 20 years, and he does not know their children, relatives said. (He also has two stepchildren.)
He often talks about his experience as a police officer and firefighter in Kalamazoo, Michigan. But in personnel files he obtained from that city’s Public Security Department, which he left in 1999, his file reads this note: “Retired, bad grade, wouldn’t hire again.” A spokesperson for the department declined to comment.
Mr Finchem has raised more than $1.2 million, a significant amount for a campaign for Secretary of State. (Mr. Lane raised about $1.1 million, while the other two candidates are significantly behind.) Much of the money comes from out of state — seven of the eight donors listed as giving the $5,300 maximum. in his last two campaigns had donated applications were from elsewhere. Major donors include Brian T. Kennedy, a former president of the right-wing Claremont Institute, and Michael Marsicano, a former mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, who recently lost a Republican primary in Congress.
Despite this, he has few visible signs of a staff or campaign agency. About three-quarters of his spending, more than $750,000, has flowed into a Florida political consultancy run by Spence Rogers, the nephew of Wendy Rogers, an Arizona lawmaker with ties to white nationalists, campaign files show. Another $53,000, or nearly 5 percent of his total spending, went toward payments to Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. (Many other Trump-backed candidates have done the same, including Kari Lake, Mr. Trump’s favorite candidate for Arizona governor, whose campaign spent more than $100,000 in Mar-a-Lago.)