Michigan Senate hopeful Mallory McMorrow has racked up $1.28M in unpaid home loans despite an austerity agenda.
Democratic Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow received nearly a year’s worth of expenses on her million-dollar home while campaigning for the savings.
Until Friday, McMorrow and her husband, former Gawker executive Ray Wert, had not paid water or sewer bills at their home in Royal Oak, Mich., since June 2025, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The property had accumulated $3,000.37 in unpaid bills and late fees.
The debt was paid shortly after Fox News Digital reached out for comment.
“The debts in question have been paid,” said the spokesperson.
“We respect the commitment to deal with nothing but the fact that all of America’s debt — from utilities to grocery stores to electricity — is skyrocketing because of Donald Trump and his donors like Mike Rogers.”
McMorrow, a state legislator vying for the Democratic nomination in one of the top state Senate races, has repeatedly fallen behind on payments in recent years.
Records show the couple has been fined 10 times and more than $400 in late fees for non-payment since late 2021, when they bought a $1.28 million home in suburban Detroit.
A Detroit Metro Times report that year described the property — with a pool and outdoor patio — as a home “to marvel at.”
McMorrow and Wert also let past-due water bills pile up on the home in the last quarter of 2024, when they went five months without paying.
When the couple finally paid the $917 in January 2025, records showed an unpaid balance of $45 in late payments.
Royal Oak Township sends out quarterly water bills and assesses a 5% late fee on unpaid balances.
If McMorrow had failed to pay the balance by June 1, an additional 5% penalty would have been added, according to the payment notice.
Under Royal Oak’s policy, unpaid water and sewer bills could end up being added to a couple’s property tax bill and prolonged nonpayment could result in a water shutoff.
The delinquent payments come as recent revelations suggest that McMorrow and her husband may be millionaires.
He estimated his earnings at between $588,041 and $1.87 million last year, the Michigan Advance reported.
Up to $1.15 million is reported under her name or as joint assets with her husband, according to financial disclosures filed last year.
McMorrow earned $101,554 in his state senator’s salary, according to the filing. He also reported just over $106,000 in royalties.
When McMorrow and her husband fell behind on payments, she fought for an “affordability” law that would have ended water shutoffs due to nonpayment of city debts.
McMorrow sponsored a measure last year that would have closed water bills for low-income residents and offered debt forgiveness for past-due balances. The program will be funded through a standard charge for most Michigan water customers.
He also supported the Human Right to Water Act, which would recognize access to affordable drinking water as a right and direct the state government to create an “affordability approach.”
In a March 2021 Facebook post, he advocated for legislation to “end the water shutoff.”
“Let’s be clear, access to water is a human right, even if there is no epidemic,” he wrote.
The late aid payments come as McMorrow enters a three-way Democratic race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is retiring.
The swing seat is a must-win race for Democrats hoping to regain control of the Senate, but Republicans also see the contest as a high-profile swing.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., withdrew the platform last year with the support of President Trump while Democratic candidates continued to field it ahead of the August primary.
McMorrow is campaigning on a progressive platform that includes calling for the wealthy to pay their “fair share” in taxes.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, backed by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, is running to his left, while Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate backed by the party’s establishment reform, has backed more moderate views.
Advanced Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., endorsed McMorrow’s campaign.
He recently faced widespread scrutiny for deleting thousands of social media posts ahead of the launch of his Senate campaign that disparaged “Middle America” and linked Trump to his background with Nazi Germany. CNN first reported on the trove of deleted posts.
The Senate hopes to strongly defend his post in an interview with the network, saying he “wrote ordinary things as an ordinary man.”
