DeVos money in the 2020 Elections: Part III – Buying State Legislators

In Part I of this series, we looked at how two of the companies the DeVos family owns, Amway and RDV Corporation, have provided significant funding to candidates in the 2020 Election.

In Part II, we looked at candidates in Kent County who have received funding from then DeVos family. In Part III, we take a look at how much the DeVos family has contributed to candidates running for state office.  

We used Michigan Secretary of State Campaign Finance data to see how much candidates and other groups that influence state office have received from the DeVos family.

There were two State House races in Michigan in West Michigan, where the DeVos family made substantial campaign contributions, in the 73rd an 74th House District races. We included Steve Ehmann again, since he is the Executive Director of one of the DeVos companies, RDV Corp.

Brian Posthumus – GOP candidate running for the 73rd District

• Doug DeVos $1,050

• Maria DeVos $1,050

• Suzanne Cheryl DeVos $1,050

• Pamela DeVos $1,050

• Daniel DeVos $1,050

• Steve Ehmann $1,050

Mark Huizenga – GOP candidate running for the 74th District

• Doug DeVos $1,050

• Maria DeVos $1,050

• Suzanne Cheryl DeVos $2,100

• Pamela DeVos $1,050

• Daniel DeVos $1,050

• Richard DeVos $1,050

People might ask, why on two State House candidates? Again, it is important to make it clear that the DeVos campaign contributions are strategic and not random. The 73rd and 74th State Houses Races are important to win in order to maintain Republican control of the State House. The other issue is that the DeVos family also contributed to the House and Senate Republican Campaign Committees, which in turn, fund state candidates. These PACs make determinations on which state candidates to contribute money to, based on the importance of the race and on how hotly contested they are. This is a dynamic we see at the federal candidate level with the DeVos family, where they are more inclined to contribute to PACs than they are to individual candidates. So, look at how much money the DeVos family members contributed to state races through these two GOP PACs. 

House Republican Campaign Committee

• Doug DeVos $83,950

• Maria DeVos $83,950

• Suzanne Cheryl DeVos $83,950

• Pamela DeVos $83,950

• Daniel DeVos $83,950

• Richard DeVos $83,950

• Steve Ehmann $83,950

Senate Republican Campaign Committee

• Doug DeVos $83,950

• Maria DeVos $83,950

• Suzanne Cheryl DeVos $125,925

• Pamela DeVos $83,950

• Daniel DeVos $83,950

• Richard DeVos $83,950

• Steve Ehmann $83,950

The total for the State elections from the DeVos family comes to $1,217,275, and that doesn’t include state races outside of West Michigan. This is the kind of numbers we would expect from the DeVos family, which has been one of the major Republican Party donors across the country and number one in Michigan for several decades. In Part IV, we will look at the DeVos family campaign contributions at the federal level.