Always follow the money: Rich White people and the 3rd Ward Grand Rapids City Commission Race

As we reported a few days ago, in the 1st Ward Grand Rapids City Commission, candidate Andrew Robbins has been the recipient of thousands of dollars from a few Political Action Committees and thousands more from members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.

The Rev. Kenneth Hoskins is running against Kelsey Perdue to represent the 3rd Ward of Grand Rapids. Hoskins, like Andrew Robbins in the 1st Ward, has been the recipient of $10,500 of campaign funds from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, as we reported on last week.

Hoskins has run for office before, being part of the Grand Rapids School Board beginning in 2004 and served multiple terms. It is possible that powerful people are backing him because of his electoral experience. However, my take on why Hoskins is receiving so much money from the Grand Rapids Power Structure is because of his as Executive Director of Oakdale Neighbors and its relationship to the DeVos entity known as AmplifyGR. 

Oakdale Neighbors has received at least $300,000 from several of the DeVos family foundations since AmplifyGR was first conceptualized in 2016. GRIID reported on this in 2017,  and have continued to document DeVos Foundation support of Oakdale Neighbors. In fact, Oakdale Neighbors was contracted by AmlifyGR to conduct community surveys in the Boston Square neighborhood. The DeVos family is very big on these kinds of relationships with organizations and individuals that have bought into their vision for Grand Rapids.

However, people can draw their own conclusions, based upon the campaign finance data from the two 3rd Ward candidates. We have posted both the final documentation for the 2022 election on the GRIID site, with the campaign finance data for Hoskins here and the data for Perdue here.

Kenneth Hoskins

Total raised: $51,824.61

Total spent: $17,372.11

Total # of contributions: 95

Largest contributors:

Political Action Committees and organizations

• Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce PAC – $10,500
• Grand Rapids Fire Fighters Union PAC – $2000 
• Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan – $1000
• Priority Health PAC – $500

Individuals

• Richard DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Betsy DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Pamela DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Daniel DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Suzanne DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Steve Ehmann, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Doug DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Maria DeVos, RDV Corp. – $1050
• Johnny Brann Jr., President of Interphase Interiors – $1050
• Mark Meijer, President of LifeEMS Ambulance – $1050
• Terri Land, Property Management – $1050
• Dan Hibma, Land & Company – $1050
• Russell Richter, Richter Realty – $1050
• Jim Bossenbroek, Northgate Resorts – $1050
• David Lyngklip, Power Generation Sales – $1050
• Rick Baker, CEO of GR Chamber of Commerce – $1000
• Daniel Meyering, CEO of Trillium Investments – $1000
• John Kennedy, President Autocam Corp. – $1000
• Sam Cummings, CWD Real Estate Investment – $1000
• Michael Jandernoa, Owner 42 North Partners – $1000
• Susan Jandernoa, Board of Trustees GVSU – $1000
• John Brann Sr., owner Brann’s Steakhouse – $1000
• Gayle VanGessel, Owner of Rockford Construction – $1000
• James Hackett, Retired – $750
• Robert Hughes, Advantage Benefits Group – $550
• Shaquanda Gordon, Spartan Nash – $500
• Mark Murray, Meijer Inc. – $500
• Charlie Secchia, Attico Ventures LLC. – $500
• Robert Schermer, Meritage Hospitality Group – $500
• Doug Dozeman, Warner Norcross – $500
• Matt Missad, Universal Forrest Products – $500
• Timothy Schowalter, Pioneer Construction – $500
• Mike VanGessel, Rockford Construction – $500
• Michael Houseman, Wolverine Building Group – $500

38 contributions were $500 or more.

Kelsey Perdue

Total raised: $42,711.95

Total spent: $31,397.51

Total # of contributions: 244

Largest contributors:

Political Action Committees & Organizations

• Progressive Women’s Alliance – $2000
• Equity PAC – $1500 
• West Michigan Cannabis Guild – $1000
• Rental Property Owners Association – $500

Individuals

• Kayla Smith, Manager FMC – $1000
• Carla Erikson, Atomic Object – $1000
• Joe Glover, Well House – $1000
• Chris Burtley, Barnes and Thornburg – $734.90
• Joe Jones – $525
• Annemarie Valdez – $500
• Darell Ross, Forty Acres – $500
• Lynn Heemstra, Retired – $500
• Amber Wagner, Treadstone Mortgage – $500
• Arlen-Deam Gaddy, Erhardt Construction – $500
• Angel Duff, Price Waterhouse Coopers – $500
• Christopher Spain, Acrisure – $500
• Kate Wolters, KRW Foundation – $500
• Marlin Feyen, Retired – $500

18 contributions were $500 or more.

The numbers for the campaign contributions going to the candidates in the 3rd Ward Grand Rapids City Commission race speak for themselves. More importantly, the amount of money that was contributed to Kenneth Hoskins campaign from members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure are astonishing. The DeVos family & Associates collectively contributed $9450 alone. This amount of money from the wealthiest people in Grand Rapids, which are almost exclusively White, is also very troubling in a political Ward that has the largest Black population in Grand Rapids. White rich people seeking to install Black candidates is nothing short of Managerial Racism, Institutionalized White Supremacy and White Saviorism.