Names in the News: Geoffrey Fieger

Publication Date: December 2005

Publisher: National Institute on Money in State Politics (U.S.)

Author(s): Rachel Weiss

Research Area: Politics

Type: Report

Coverage: Michigan

Abstract:

Although his nationwide claim to fame is as the lawyer defending Dr. Jack Kervorkian - a noted assisted suicide advocate - from murder charges in the 1990s, attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger also has made a name as a force in Michigan politics. He ran for governor in 1998, winning the Democratic nomination but losing in the general election to Republican incumbent Gov. John Engler. In that election, Fieger gave his unsuccessful campaign nearly all of the $5.7 million he raised. He and his wife have contributed another $125,400 to candidates and Democratic Party committees in the past eight years.

And recently, Fieger's political activities became the focus of a campaign-finance investigation when he disclosed he provided $457,0002 for anonymous attack ads against sitting Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman in the 2004 elections.