The money behind the candidates in Michigan – Part III: DeVos-funded candidates

In Part I of this series, we look at the campaign contributions for the Governor’s race in Michigan, while Part II looked at the campaign funding for the West Michigan State Legislature races. Today, we’ll take a look at the DeVos-backed candidates based on the most recent campaign finance data, specifically candidates running in Michigan.

According to data from OpenSecrets.org, members of the DeVos family and DeVos-owned companies have contributed to the re-election campaign of Rep. Peter Meijer. For the most recent quarter of campaign finance data, Meijer received campaign contributions from the following DeVos family members and DeVos-owned entities:

Amway/Alticor Inc. – $5,000

CWD Real Estate – $4,583

RDV Corp – $2,900

Pamela Roland (DeVos) – $2,900

In the 4th Congressional District race, which now pits Fred Upton against Bill Huizenga (re-districting), there are no DeVos contributions to either candidate. The DeVos family has consistently supported Huizenga, but they may be waiting until the primary vote to contribute to this race.

Based on data from the Michigan Secretary of State’s office and their campaign finance requirements, here are the candidates that members of the DeVos family have contributed to, Republican Committees and contributions for the ballot initiatives run by Let MI Kids Learn:

Dick DeVos

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Wentworth Majority Fund 2 – $10,000

Kent County Republican Committee – $25,000

Let MI Kids Learn – $100,000

Betsy DeVos

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Let MI Kids Learn – $100,000

Doug DeVos

MI House Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Kent County Republican Committee – $25,000

Let MI Kids Learn – $50,000

Maria DeVos

MI House Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Let MI Kids Learn – $50,000

Daniel DeVos 

MI House Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Kent County Republican Committee – $25,000

Wentworth Majority Fund 2 – $10,000

Compete Michigan Political Action CO – $10,000

Ottawa County Republican Committee – $50

Pamela DeVos

MI Senate Republican Campaign Committee – $41,975

Cheri DeVos

Kent County Republican Committee – $25,000

Wentworth Majority Fund 2 – $10,000

Adding all of those campaign contributions to just these candidates/ballot initiatives, comes to a total of $823,208 for the most recent quarter of campaign finance reports. While this is a substantial amount of money, we know that this will increased significantly before the November Election. GRIID will continue to track this information and demonstrate once again that the politics of the DeVos family is far right, supporting candidates and initiatives that hurt BIPOC people, working people, people who identify as LGBTQ, immigrants and other marginalized communities.