DeVos money in the 2020 Elections: Part I – Using their companies to buy politicians

The DeVos family has been a major contributor to the Republican Party over the past 5 decades. For example, in the last Presidential Election cycle (2015 – 2016), the DeVos family spent $14 million on campaign contributions.

In this series, we want to look at campaign funding from the DeVos family in the current election cycle, 2019 – 2020. In Part I, we look at campaign contributions that come directly from the companies they own.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, there are two DeVos-owned companies that have made campaign contributions in the 2019-2020 election cycle, RDV Corporation and Amway/Alticor. 

Here are some of the campaign contributions from RVD Corporation, which have totaled $4,173,362 for 2019-2020.

• John James $77,600

• Peter Meijer $44,250

• Donald Trump $34,594

• Fred Upton $33,600

• John Bergman $22,400

• Shelley Moore Capito $19,500

• John Cornyn $16,800

• Ben Sase $16.800

• Bill Huizenga $16,800

• Bill Cassidy $16,800

Here are some of the campaign contributions from Amway/Alticor, for 2019-2020, which totaled $2,076,260.

• Bill Huizenga $39,250

• John James $28.505

• Peter Meijer $18,050

• Joni Ernst $17.800

• Mitch McConnell $16,910

• Kevin McCarthy $16,870

• Cory Gardner $16,800

• Martha McSally $16,800

• Dan Sullivan $16,800

• David Perdue $16,800

Now, some of these people are first time candidates, but several have been in office for some time, like Trump, Huizenga and McConnell. We know what kind of awful things these men have done – tax breaks to the wealthiest, perpetuating White Supremacy, maintaining a brutal US foreign policy, perpetuating mass incarceration, deregulating environmental laws, and adopting anti-queer/anti-trans policies. 

The DeVos family is everywhere in our community, so the next time you think it’s nice that they gave money for some project, remember they contributed money to the likes of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. Also, remember that these numbers are just what they contributed through their companies. In Part II, we will look at DeVos campaign contributions for local candidates.