Michigan's DeVos family throws its support behind Tudor Dixon for governor

LANSING — The billionaire DeVos family is endorsing Norton Shores businesswoman Tudor Dixon in the Republican race for governor, Dick DeVos said Monday.

Dick DeVos was the 2006 Republican candidate for governor. His wife, Betsy DeVos, is a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and served in the administration of former President Donald Trump as education secretary.

They are major donors to Republican candidates and causes and are considered power brokers in the state party.

"The DeVos family have decided to stand with Tudor Dixon as being the next right governor for the state of Michigan," Dick DeVos said Monday on the Paul W. Smith show on WJR-AM in Detroit.

The endorsement is a significant boost for Dixon in what is currently a 10-candidate field and should help her fundraising. Michigan has strict limits on how much individual donors can give to candidate committees, but rules are looser for supportive political action committees and nonprofit organizations.

DeVos said that as a businesswoman and a mom, Dixon has "the experience, the leadership and the passion and a plan to put the state back on track."

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As the mother of school-age children, Dixon has been impacted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "ridiculous shutdowns and manipulations" and "failed leadership," he said.

"We want to stand with her," he said.

School choice and public tax dollar support for private schools, which would generally require a state constitutional amendment, are major issues for the DeVos family.

Dixon supports those positions, and "it’s no wonder her harmful agenda has gotten the attention" of the DeVos family, said Rodericka Applewhaite, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Democratic Party.

Dixon is one of three GOP candidates whose petitions to qualify for the August primary ballot faced challenges. But a Bureau of Elections report released late Monday OK'd Dixon's petitions, while recommending that five other GOP candidates, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and Oakland County businessman and "quality guru" Perry Johnson, be disqualified.

At a May 12 debate in Livingston County, Dixon was one of six Republican candidates — of eight who participated — who falsely claimed that Trump won Michigan's presidential election in 2020.

President Joe Biden won Michigan by about 154,000 votes, and despite numerous claims and court challenges by Trump and others, there has been no credible evidence of fraud or other irregularities that would come anywhere close to overturning that result. At the debate, only two candidates, Michigan State Police Capt. Mike Brown and Grand Haven financial adviser Michael Markey, accurately answered that Trump lost Michigan in 2020.

DeVos, who was defeated by incumbent Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2006, said Michigan paid a price for reelecting what he saw as a failed governor and the state should not make the same mistake again.

In a statement, Dixon said she is "honored to have the DeVos family's support as we enter this new phase of our campaign to defeat Gretchen Whitmer and forge a family-friendly future for Michigan."

The statement continued: "We want Michigan to be the best state in the country to live in, work, run a business, raise a family, and retire. Michigan's families deserve good schools, good jobs, safe neighborhoods, reliable infrastructure, and a responsive government that serves their interests."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.  Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's DeVos family endorses Tudor Dixon for governor