Even though she is out as Secretary of Education, we are going to continue to monitor the actions of Betsy DeVos
Like many, I will be delighted to see Betsy DeVos be forced to leave her position as US Secretary of Education. How wonderful it will be for her to be shown the door in the coming weeks.
For those of us in West Michigan, we understand that she has spent the last 4 years in the Trump administration attacking public education and expanding funding for Charter and private schools. However, we also understand that Betsy DeVos has spent the last three decades attacking public education and re-directing funding for Charter and private schools through school vouchers and other tactics.
Over the past four years, we have been writing about Betsy DeVos, from the time that she was first picked by the Trump administration, to the Grand Rapids Public School Superintendent celebrating Betsy’s selection as the Secretary of Education, to that instructive moment when DeVos’s financial holdings were being scrutinized.
GRIID then spent the past 4 years providing regular analysis of policy decisions and deconstructions of speeches by Betsy DeVos in our column called Betsy DeVos Watch.
We produced 70 articles investigating Betsy DeVos during her tenure as Secretary of Education and are proud of that work.
However, despite our glee with the soon departure of Betsy DeVos from her position, we will continue to monitor the actions of Betsy DeVos. The reason why we will continue to monitor Betsy, is because she did as much damage to public education before becoming the Secretary of Education.
People are somewhat familiar with what Betsy DeVos has done in Michigan since her failure School Voucher ballot initiative in 2000. After that loss, Betsy created the Great Lakes Education Project and continued to work closely with groups like the DeVos-created Michigan Freedom Fund, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Acton Institute, all of which spend significant time on pushing for privatized education by using a “School Choice” mantra.
On the national level, Betsy DeVos has been working with groups like the American Federation of Children, All Children Matter, the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council and many more.
Betsy DeVos is also still a darling in the Republican Party and will now be able to contribute money again to the GOP, along with her family, which contributed over $20 million during the Trump years.
It is important to celebrate the fact that Betsy DeVos will no longer be the Secretary of Education. However, we should not assume that the incoming Secretary of Education will be a defender of public education, especially since Arne Duncan was no real champion of public schools, as Diane Ravitch points out in her excellent article from 2017.
It is equally important that we continue to monitor how Betsy DeVos will work to undermine public education through her nationwide connection to far right groups that embrace a Neo-Liberal Education model.
Grand Rapids invests over $6 million for private development in downtown, while Southeast Grand Rapids experiences disinvestment: We call this Structural Racism
Last month, we reported on how some groups in the Grand Rapids Power Structure were planning to move forward with a proposal to build a large amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids.
We also reported that the land in question for the proposed amphitheater was owned by the DeVos family, specifically the old Charlie’s Crab restaurant and the adjacent land & parking area. One of the properties is owned by 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC, which was not verified by local news sources, but 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC is in the same address that houses the DeVos businesses and the various DeVos family foundations – 126 Ottawa Ave NW, Grand Rapids.
As of Tuesday, we now know more details about this proposal, which is even more insidious. During the Grand Rapids City Commission’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday morning, the City approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), whereby the Amway Hotel Corporation, 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC, the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority and the City of Grand Rapids, have agreed to enter into a private-public agreement to build a 14,000 seat outdoor amphitheater.
Now, in order to do this, the City will have to vacate some of their properties, just south of a US 131 highway offramp, along Market Avenue. As is shown on the map here, the land north of the US 131 highway offramp is owned by the Amway Hotel Corporation and 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC, which will likely be used for parking. The new 14,000 seat amphitheater will be located, according to City documents, at the 201 Market Avenue SW location, also shown here on the map. In addition, the City would give up their property located at 509 Wealthy SW, which is the property on the corner of Wealthy and Market Avenue.
This whole process is designed to free up the land along the Grand River for commercial development. The MOU states:
This innovative public/private partnership is an economic recovery project that will remove a critical barrier to redevelopment of properties along the Market Avenue corridor, including the City’s 15.8 acre 201 Market Avenue property and the 4.3 acre property located at 509 Wealthy Street. Proceeding in this way reduces construction conflicts and helps ensure timely availability of the properties for redevelopment without this encumbrance.
The cost of freeing up land for commercial development is an estimated $18,636,585, which will be divided up by three entities. The private entities – the Amway Hotel Corporation and 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC would contribute $7,383,942, the Convention/Arena Authority would contribute $5,000,000 and the City of Grand Rapids would pitch in $6,252,643. However, as MLive reported, Grand Action 2.0 would be the primary private entity leading the charge for the amphitheater and other commercial development along the Grand River and Market Avenue.
To be clear, the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County created the Convention/Arena Authority, which technically makes in a public entity. However, looking at who sits on the board of the Convention/Arena Authority, we’d be hard pressed to consider it public. Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority – Steve Heacock (Grand Rapids Whitewater), Birgit Klohs (Right Place Inc.), Charlie Secchia (SIBSCO), Floyd Wilson (Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan), Rosalynn Bliss (Mayor, Grand Rapids), Lew Chamberlin ( West Michigan Whitecaps), and Richard Winn (Amway Hotel Corporation).
Whether or not the Convention/Arena Authority is public, we do know that the City of Grand Rapids is willing to invest $6,252,643 to free up land along the Grand River for commercial development, which would include a 14,000 seat outdoor amphitheater.
So what does this announcement that the City of Grand Rapids is willing to spend $6,252,643 of public money for private development in the downtown area mean? It means that the City of Grand Rapids is not really committed to equity and racial justice, as they claim. Why is it so easy for the City to use over $6 million in public money to benefit the private sector in downtown Grand Rapids, yet is unwilling to invest that amount and more into the southeast part of Grand Rapids, at part of the city that has economically suffered for decades, which also happens to be where the majority of African Americans live? The answer must be because of systemic and structural racism. What else could it be?
No Time to Get Comfortable: Resisting oppression and working for transformative change in Grand Rapids right now!
The 2020 Election is now over. Sure Trump, McConnell and other GOP holdouts are still contesting the election results, but they don’t have a leg to stand on and even Fox News and Jared Kushner have urged Trump to concede gracefully. Plus, the armed, White Supremacist groups that had been threatening a major uprising have demonstrated that they don’t have the capacity to really threaten the outcome on a large scale.
There have been lots of people who have celebrated the ousting of Donal Trump, both on social media an in the streets. This celebration is understandable and welcomed, but we are far from achieving the kind of transformative politics we so desperately need. While Trump will be gone from the White House, he is merely a symptom of our deep seated problems.
The US will still be an Empire that engages in imperialist an colonial policies around the globe, with nearly 200 military bases and hundreds of thousands of troops ready to enforce military and economic policies that benefit the Capitalist Class.
Millions of Americans will still be facing eviction in the New Year, when the CDC moratorium on evictions will end and many more are facing the loss of their homes due to the ongoing housing crisis, compounded by high unemployment.
Immigrant children are still in cages and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) will still be operating under the Biden/Harris administration. This means that ICE will continue to arrest, detain and deport immigrants, which has escalated under every administration since the Clinton.
Climate Change is still an extremely urgent matter, with regular reports coming from Climate scientists on how they have underestimated to severity of the crisis. The Biden/Harris administration will likely rejoin the Paris Accords, but that is a woefully inadequate response to the crisis. Numerous Climate Justice organizations are already demanding that the Bidden/Harris administration adopt a 10 step plan with the first 10 days of the new administration, plus the Green New Deal has to be adopted soon in order for Climate catastrophe to be avoided.
Mass incarceration, police violence and other manifestations of State violence and White Supremacy are deeply entrenched in our society and there are no indications that the Biden/Harris administration will threaten this reality.
Indigenous land is still being occupied through Settler Colonialism and indigenous resistance to oil pipelines is still being criminalized and threatened with State violence.
For those who have been doing on the ground work during the Trump administration, none of them are under the illusion that a Biden/Harris administration will mean they can relax or start having long, relaxing brunches.
Groups like Movimiento Cosecha GR are still fighting to get Driver’s Licenses for All in the short term, with long terms goals to win dignity, respect and permanent protection for the estimate 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. GR Rapid Response to ICE will continue to work with Cosecha, along with their commitment to resisting ICE in Kent County and providing solidarity and Mutual Aid to immigrant families impacted by ICE violence. https://www.facebook.com/cosechagr and https://www.facebook.com/RapidResponseGR
The Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network (GRAMAN) is continuing to raise funds to provide Mutual Aid to families, particularly Black, latinx and indigenous, that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID 19 crisis. The COVID crisis has only escalated in recent weeks and most estimates suggest that the crisis will continue at least through all of 2021. This means there will be huge needs for the families that GRAMAN is working with. https://www.facebook.com/GRAMutAid
Groups like Justice for Our Lives and DeFund the GRPD are working on confronting the funding for the Grand Rapids Police Department, which continues to push for additional funds, despite large calls for defunding throughout the community. DeFund the GRPD has resources for alternatives to calling the police and they have set up an online resource for people who want to share their stories about police abuse in Grand Rapids. You can access these resources at https://www.facebook.com/DefundtheGRPD.
The Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union is fairly new, but is working to build a tenant-led union to challenge the power of landlords and Property Management Companies in the area. They have resources for those facing eviction and are beginning to host regular online meetings to allow people to access resources and connect with other tenants. https://www.facebook.com/GRATU4Inquilinos
Then there are groups like Together We Are Safe, the Urban Core Collective, the Sunrise Movement, Democratic Socialist of America, the ACLU, the People’s Budget and many more in this community that always need volunteers and supporters to be involved in the fight for transformative justice and collective liberation.
All of these groups are doing important work and we can not abandon them just because Trump will soon be out of the White House. Imagine if all the energy and financial support that people provided to the 2020 Elections were to go to the groups listed above, imagine how that could impact the grassroots, transformative work they are doing. With electoral politics, you chose politicians to represent you, sometimes they lose, but even if they win they often don’t end up representing the change you want to see in the world. With grassroots organizing, you get to be involved in the ongoing work using direct action tactics and strategies, which can actually begin to dismantle the systems of power and oppression you are fighting against, plus it provides a direct democracy avenue to build community and work for the kinds of collective liberation we do want to see in this world.
The current COVID 19 spike and Corona Capitalism
I work in an adult foster care facility. I have been tested for COVID 4 times already, since we have had both staff and residents who have tested positive. I am considered an essential worker, but that means more often than not, that I am a low-wage worker.
COVID is real and it impacts the most vulnerable in our society, those with disabilities, those experiencing poverty and those who are marginalized because of their race, sexual orientation, even religious status.
In the past few weeks, most of us have been focused on the election, which is understandable, considering how the Trump administration has miserably failed us during the pandemic. However, the electoral focus has also meant that we have not been paying as much attention to the astronomical spike in COVID -19 cases.
From November 1st through November 8th, the State of Michigan has experienced the largest number of COVID 19 cases during a one week period since the pandemic began. The same has been the case with Kent County, which has also had the highest one-week average since March.
Kent County Health Director Adam London was recently quoted as saying, “I think we are very much teetering on the edge of having this out of control.” In the same MLive article, Dr. Darryl Elmouchi, president of Spectrum Health West Michigan, said, “I think unfortunately this was very predictable and very real and, while I think we all hoped we wouldn’t see this, we’re clearly seeing it across our region and our state. And at this point, there’s nothing to tell us it’s not going to keep rising rapidly.”
While it is clear that we are in the midst of a health crisis, due to the pandemic, we are also faced with what some call Corona Capitalism. Corona Capitalism is both a recognition of a failed market-based health care system, along with larger structural realities that are because of a massive wealth gap in our society, White Supremacy, unemployment and underemployment, exploitation, predatory lending and government policies which rewards the super rich and punishes everyone else.
But why are we experiencing a spike in COVID 19 cases right now? There are numerous factors contributing to the current spike. Part of it is related to the push to get students back to school, part of it is a significant portion of the population that continues to refuse to wear masks and social distance, and a large part of it is because of what we already stated, which is Corona Capitalism.
Within the structure of Corona Capitalism, there are two major culprits, policy makers and the business community and their associates. In Michigan, it has been clear since March, which politicians have been most zealous in their push to oppose broad public health policies and to “re-open the economy.” In early April, Rep. Lee Chatfield and Senator Mike Shirkey expressed their frustration over Gov. Whitmer’s stay in place order. The frustration from the GOP politicians led to their eventual lawsuits against the Governor in early May.
As we have noted, Senator Mike Shirkey has also been in constant communication with those organizing the anti-lockdown protests earlier this year. In early October, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Whitmer had gone too far with the stay in place orders, thus limiting what public health officials could do to protect people from becoming infected. Senator Shirkey then began to promote his herd immunity theory, which is a sick and disastrous way of thinking about the expendability of people.
On the business side of things, we have the Michigan and Grand Rapids Chambers of Commerce, who have been pushing to allow companies to resume business as usual, with some protocols in place to deal with COVID. This sentiment has been echoed from policy based groups like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Acton Institute and the West Michigan Policy Forum. In fact, the West Michigan Policy Forum posted on Friday this comment:
As we see a surge in coronavirus cases statewide, we encourage all work to keep Michigan Open Safely together to protect our lives and our livelihoods it is even more critical to do all we can to enforce good safety protocols in our working environments to ensure our hospitals do not become overrun.
Now, it should be noted that the West Michigan Policy Forum and many of its more prominent members are major funders to Senator Shirkey and the Michigan GOP. They have been pushing against broad public health protections that Gov. Whitmer put in place and they have pushed policies over the past decade that has made Corona Capitalism all the more inevitable.
The reality is that the Michigan Legislature will still be under GOP control, which provides them with the ongoing ability to push more Corona Capitalist policies, which will be beneficial to the business community, but will be devastating to the rest of us. We can’t afford to wait for the 2022 election to make changes, so we must resist and organize to oppose the impact of Corona Capitalism in our communities. We must be defiant and resolute in our actions, and we must figure out new ways to take care of each other, especially since we cannot rely on the government or Corona Capitalism.
GRPD moves forward on ShotSpotter technology, ignoring public concerns and minimizing community opposition
Last week, the Grand Rapids Police Department held two town hall meetings (Nov. 2nd and Nov. 5th) centered on the issue of whether or not the GRPD would be obtaining gun shot detection technology from the private company known as ShotSpotter.
Previous to these two meetings, a coalition of community based groups had demanded that the GRPD hold off on these meetings, since Nov. 2nd was the day before the elections, with lots of people involved in last minute campaign work. As it turns out, the Nov. 5th meeting was also highly problematic, in that the federal elections had not yet been decided and the focus of much of the nation was on the outcome of that election.
The community-based coalition that made that demand had sent out a Media Release statement on October 31st, which also included several other demands, which the GRPD ignored.
In addition, the group Defund the GRPD, also sent out an action alert, which provided community members an opportunity to send a message of opposition to ShotSpotter to the Mayor, City Commissioners and the City Manager. I sent one of those message and the only response I received was a short message from a staff person in the City Manager’s office, which said, “On behalf of the City Manager, thank you for your concern. Your email has been forwarded to the Police Chief.”
Dictating the format and the outcome
I watched both of the 90 minute GRPD-hosted forums on ShotSpotter technology and here is what I learned. First, representative from ShotSpotter spent more than 30 minutes presenting information on the technology, with their own spin on what the technology does and doesn’t do. Of course, ShotSpotter wants to sell Grand Rapids this technology, since this is how they make their money. Once the presentation portion had ended, Chief Payne made comments before there was opportunity for the public to weigh in. Chief Payne also put his own spin on the topic, with a more relevant message during the November 5th meeting, which we will get to in a moment.
People could call in to make a comment, ask a question or post comments and questions on the City’s Facebook page. When questions were asked, this provided the representatives from ShotSpotter and the GRPDd even more time to talk, which translated in leaving less than half of the town hall meeting time for public comment. In terms of where people stood on this issue, there was overwhelming opposition to ShotSpotter, compared to those who endorsed it.
When Chief Payne spoke at the November 5th meeting, this is what he had to say (which people can listen to for themselves at the 35:30 time on the video on the City’s Facebook page):
We will find funding for ShotSpotter within our budget. It is only contingent upon City Commission approval. We will have to take this before fiscal and the entire City Commission to get approval, because it is new technology that would come to Grand Rapids and it would have to get approval. Thus, that is why we are holding these town hall meetings and trying to engage the community to be as transparent as we can. I mentioned in my opening that this is not a magic wand that is going to reduce all the gun violence we are seeing, but I do see it as a very important part of everything that is possible for us moving forward in reducing the amount of violence that is occurring within the community.
As many of us suspected, the GRPD had pre-determined that they were going to adopt the ShotSpotter technology, despite going through the motions of so-called community engagement.
Chief Payne also stated that the department would be presenting the idea to the city’s fiscal committee on Nov. 10 to identify funding. It would then go before city commissioners, which of course is this Tuesday. Moving this quickly clearly sends the message that, not only does the GRPD not care what the community thinks, they want to push this through as fast as possible in order to preempt any public opposition.
New Michigan House Speaker, Jason Wentworth, has lots of corporate backing, including the DeVos family
It was announced yesterday, that the new Speaker of the Michigan State House will be Rep. Jason Wentworth, from the 97th District.
Wentworth is former military and a former cop, who was first elected to the Michigan Legislature in 2016. Wentworth won that election with an infusion of $9,000 from the DeVos family and has been bringing in lots of corporate cash every since.
Some of the most notable funders of Rep. Wentworth have been:
- Blue Cross/Blue Shield
- Small Biz PAC
- DOW Inc PAC
- Mortgage Bankers Assoc. PAC
- Huntington Assoc. Good Gov Fund
- Home Depot
- Detroit Chamber
- Ford Motor Co
- DTE Energy
- Altria PAC
- CMS Energy PAC
- Police Officers Assoc. PAC
- Chatfield Majority Fund
If you want to search his voting record, which seems to be consistent with GOP leadership, go to this link.
The Michigan House is still GOP controlled, 58 – 52. Despite Biden winning Michigan, it did not translate into a majority of Democrats in the State House.
Sources used for Campaign Finance data on Rep. Wentworth: Michigan Secretary of State and Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Echoing the Trump administration, the American Patriot Council is calling for “patriots” to go to Detroit to protest the vote count
On Wednesday, it was reported that dozen’s of Trump supporters stormed the Detroit Board of Elections central counting center, chanting “Stop the count!”
The Detroit Free Press reported that “a chaotic scene erupted outside the vote tally room at TCF Center in Detroit as election officials informed dozens of challengers that they could not reenter the room due to it being over-capacity.” Police were called in response to the rowdy crowd, which pounded on windows and doors while shouting “let us in.”
Not surprisingly, the American Patriot Council posted the following message on their website Thursday morning:
At the TCF Center in Detroit, the APC is calling all patriots to join forces with many other groups in peaceful, vibrant protest of the corruption surrounding our nation’s 2020 election. Bring American flags, patriotic signs, and your voice as we pack the streets with cars and people, willing to stand up for the American right to vote.
This call by the American Patriot Council is consistent with their rhetoric and their actions in Michigan, since they were founded this past March. They were behind many of the anti-lockdown rallies held in Lansing and in Grand Rapids, they have been a major player in the push to have Gov. Whitmer and other state officials arrested for trying to maintain sensible public health policies during the COVID 19 pandemic, all of which helped to create a political climate that led to the attempted kidnaping of Gov. Whitmer by armed domestic terrorists.
In addition, one of the leaders of the American Patriot Council, Ryan D. Kelley, has been at the forefront of opposition to getting rid of the Confederate statue in Allendale, Michigan.
The fact that the American Patriot Council is calling for “patriots” to protest the vote count in Detroit, a city with a majority of Black voters, once again demonstrates their commitment to White Supremacy and bully tactics.
Over the past two weeks, we have posted 4 articles taking a look at how the DeVos family has utilized their wealth during the 2020 Election Cycle.
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 looked at how the DeVos family members were influencing electoral outcomes through their campaign contributions at the state level.
In Part IV, we looked at how the DeVos family members were pumping millions into the federal elections through their campaign contributions.
The total amount of money coming from the DeVos family in the 2020 election cycle comes to roughly $12.7 million. During the 2018 election cycle, the DeVos family campaign contributions were comparable, which means that have easy contributed over $20 million during the Trump administration.
Now if there is anything that we have learned about this administration in the past 4 years, we have learned that much of what the Trump administration has been about is the perpetuation of White Supremacy. Now, if we use the definition that is used by the group, Challenging White Supremacy, then that definition would be:
White Supremacy is an historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations and peoples of color by white peoples and nations of the European continent, for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power and privilege.
This definition of White Supremacy is the very ideologically driven motivation for the DeVos family’s insertion of millions of dollars in every campaign cycle since the Reagan era, and it is the over-riding factor during the past 4 years of the Trump administration.
Over the past 4 years, we have witnessed the expansion and promotion of mass incarceration, the widening of the wealth gap in the US, the further gentrification of our communities, the growing use of police power to suppress any resistance (especially resistance from the Black community) the xenophobic cracked down on the immigrant community, and the growth of domestic terrorism in the guise of “patriotism.” During the COVID 19 crisis we have seen this administration use White Supremacy to bailout out Wall Street, while throwing crumbs to the millions of Black, latinx and even poor white families that are facing unemployment, eviction, sickness and even death. This is what the DeVos family has been funding over the past 4 years.
Besides the direct funding of the Republican Party during the last four years, the DeVos family has also utilized the following entities to perpetuate much of White Supremacist policies that have been adopted at the federal, state and local level:
Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, the West Michigan Policy Forum, The Right Place Inc., the Acton Institute, the Mackinac Center, the Michigan Freedom Forum, the Great Lakes Education Project, Grand Action 2.0, Talent 2025 and all of the various family foundations they operation, which we have written about. All of these entities also utilize DeVos family funding and the considerable political influence that the DeVos family has to make sure that policies and practices are in place that are driven by White Supremacy – the maintenance and defense of a system of wealth, power and privilege.
This is what the DeVos family has done for the past several decades and most clearly during the Trump era, the promotion of White Supremacy. Therefore, I ask you how can you even consider defending or supporting in any way the work that is being done in Grand Rapids through the numerous non-profits that that DeVos family contribute to? In addition, how can you support the numerous DeVos created entities that also operated in Grand Rapids, such as ArtPrize, AmplifyGR and Start Garden? The DeVos family bludgeons people with White Supremacy, especially Black people, and then offers entrepreneurial programs, as if to say, “your problems are not structural, you just haven’t been given the opportunity to shine.” This is managerial racism at its finest.
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 looked at how the DeVos family members were influencing electoral outcomes through their campaign contributions at the state level.
Today, we will look at their campaign contributions at the federal level.
For this research, we use the data from the Center for Responsive Politics, also known as Opensecrets.org. You can search by zip code or by individual names. What follows is a breakdown of what each DeVos family member contributed to federal candidates during the 2019-2020 Election cycle, including the dollar amount and date. We only include the details on Maria DeVos, just so you can see an example of how many different times a DeVos family member made a campaign contribution during the current election cycle. Imagine someone making that many campaign contributions and at those amounts on a regular basis. These people do live in an entirely different world.
Maria DeVos
$5,600 3/19/2019 Mike Rounds (R)
$5,600 3/19/2019 John Moolenaar (R)
$5,600 3/20/2019 Tim Walberg (R)
$5,600 3/20/2019 David Perdue (R)
$5,600 3/21/2019 Bill Huizenga (R)
$5,600 3/22/2019 Paul Mitchell (R)
$16,000 3/23/2019 Lindsey Graham (R)
$5,600 3/26/2019 Tom Cotton (R)
$5,600 3/26/2019 Dan Sullivan (R)
$5,600 3/26/2019 Joni Ernst (R)
$2,800 3/26/2019 Steven Daines (R)
$5,600 3/26/2019 Martha McSally (R)
$5,600 3/26/2019 Thom Tillis (R)
$5,600 3/27/2019 Mitch McConnell (R)
$5,600 3/28/2019 Cyndy Hye-Smith (R)
$5,600 3/29/2019 John Cornyn (R)
$5,600 3/31/2019 Cory Gardner (R)
$5,600 6/27/2019 Bradley Byrne (R)
$5.600 6/27/2019 Bill Cassidy (R)
$5.600 6/30/2019 John James (R)
$11,200 6/30/2019 Ben Sasse (R)
$5,600 6/30/2019 Shelley Moore Capito (R)
$2,800 9/12/2019 Paul Mitchell (R)
$2,800 9/20/2019 Liz Cheney (R)
$20,000 9/30/2019 Republican Party of Michigan
$5,600 9/30/2019 John Bergman (R)
$35,000 10/1/2019 Republican National Committee
$50,000 10/2/2019 Republican National Committee
$5,600 10/30/2019 Donald Trump (R)
$14,400 12/5/2019 Republican National Committee
$5,000 12/5/2019 Majority Committee PAC
$5,600 12/5/2019 Kevin McCarthy (R)
$75,000 12/5/2019 Congressional Leadership Fund
$100,000 12/9/2019 Better Future Michigan Fund
$5,600 12/13/2019 Shane Hernandez (R)
$125,000 12/19/2019 Senate Leadership Fund
$2,800 12/19/2019 Beth Van Duyne (R)
$2,800 12/19/2019 Genevieve Collins (R)
$2,800 12/20/2019 Esther Joy King (R)
$2,800 12/21/2019 Jessica Taylor (R)
$5,600 3/9/2020 Randy Feenstra (R)
$5,000 3/30/2020 Great America Committee
$11,200 3/30/2020 Fred Upton (R)
$11.200 3/30/2020 Peter Meijer (R)
$2,800 3/31/2020 Braley Byrne (R)
$150,000 6/10/2020 Senate Leadership Fund
$50,00 6/12/2020 Congressional Leadership Fund
$200,000 6/12/2020 America First Action
$40,000 6/25/2020 Republican Party of Michigan
$71,000 6/25/2020 National Republican Senatorial Committee
$50,000 9/25/2020 Republican National Committee
$2,800 9/29/2020 Lisa McClain (R)
$5,600 9/30/2020 Paul Junge (R)
$5,600 9/30/2020 Eric Esshanki (R)
$2,800 9/30/2020 Ashley Hinson (R)
$2,800 9/30/2020 Wesley Hunt (R)
$2,800 9/30/2020 Mario iaz-Balart (R)
$2,800 10/7/2020 Tommy Tuberville (R)
Total: $1,162,000
Richard DeVos Jr $620,600
Daniel DeVos $1,625,605
Suzanne Cheryl DeVos $1,270,100
Pamela DeVos $27,000
Doug DeVos $735,400
When we tally up all of these DeVos family member campaign contributions, we get $5,440,705 for the 2019/2020 Federal Elections. This is what power looks like. This is what money buys. It buys, influence, access, loyalty and policy that benefits their financial an ideological interests.
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.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 