Campaign Finances for West Michigan Congressional Races: How the DeVos family and other members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure keep buying candidates and influencing public policy

Campaign Finances for West Michigan Congressional Races: How the DeVos family and other members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure keep buying candidates and influencing public policy

The most recent deadline for Campaign Finance data was April 25th. Over the next week, we will be providing some information and analysis on how much money candidates are receiving and who the main contributors are.

West Michigan Congressional Races

With the new re-districting now in place, it is important to look at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts, since they all fall under the geographic area known as West Michigan.

2nd Congressional District – There are three candidates running for the 2nd Congressional District, John Moolenaar (R), Jericho Gonzalez (R) and Ray Johnson (D). However, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the only available campaign finance data is for John Moolenaar. 

In the current electoral cycle, Moolenaar has raised $1,420,664. The largest contributor so far is Dow Inc., which has contributed $95,888. There are other corporate donors, but some of the most notable are West Michigan-based companies such as:

• RDV Corp – $14,100
• Amway/Alticor – $9,800
• DP Fox Ventures – $5,800
• Windquest Group – $5,800
• P DeVos Designs – $5,800

Of course, all 5 of these entities are owned by the DeVos family, thus making them the second largest contributor to Moolenaar after Dow Inc, with a total of $41,300.

3rd Congressional District – There are six candidates running for this seat, with Peter Meijer (R) (incumbent), Hillary Scholar (D), John Gibbs (R), Tom Norton (R), Audra Johnson (R) and Gabi Manolache (R). 

The most recent campaign finance date shows that Meijer is far ahead of everyone else in terms of money, with $2,137,150, followed by Scholten with $487,841, Gibbs with $227,502, Norton with $209,809, Johnson with $41,275 and Manolache with just $6,814. However the only detailed campaign contribution information listed on OpenSecrets.org is for Peter Meijer.

A large percentage of the contributions to Peter Meijer are from West Michigan, such as:

• Meijer Inc – $32,002
• RDV Corp – $31,900
• Bissell Inc. – $17,400
• Amway/Alticor Inc.  – $16,600
• Gordon Food Service – $11,600
• Van Andel Institute – $11,600
• Autocam Corp – $11,600
• Hayworth Inc. – $8,299
• 42 North Partners – $7,250
• Michael Jandernoa – $5,800
• Windquest Group – $5,800
• Wolverine Gas & Oil – $5,800

4th Congressional District – There are six candidates running for this seat that have campaign finance date, all of which are Republicans – Bill Huizenga, Stephen Carra, Sherry O’Donnell, Ezra Scott, Jon Rocha and Gina Johnsen. 

Huizenga has raised three times more than the next candidate, with $1,667,751, followed by Carra with $417,666, O’Donnell with $159,834, Scott with $12,871, Rocha with $11,313 and Johnsen with $345.

The only detailed data is for the incumbent, Bill Huizenga, with numerous West Michigan contributors, such as:

• Haworth Inc – $23,232
• RDV Corp – $17,400
• Windquest Group – $11,600
• Meijer Inc. – $8,700
• Amway/Alticor Inc. – $6,800
• Pamela Roland/DeVos – $5,800
• Van Andel Institute – $5,800
• Huizenga Group – $5,600

What is instructive is that all of the contributors listed for the three Congressional Districts, are companies owned by the local power structure, such as DeVos, Meijer, Van Andel, Kennedy, Jandernoa, Huizenga and Haworth. However, the largest contributors are from the DeVos family, which comes to a total of $127,200 for the three Congressional Districts in West Michigan. This is consistent with what the DeVos family has been doing since the late 1970s, buying candidates and influencing public policy.