By: Sarah Dettmer
On Friday morning, the U.S. Senate voted down party lines 52-48 to limit debate on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of the Department of Education. However, many Montanans have come forward with calls to Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., asking him to vote no on DeVos.
Some are questioning donations the Devos family has made to senators, including Daines.
A spokesperson from Daines’ administration said the senator’s office has been busy answering phone calls. However, Daines has remained strong in his support of DeVos.
“Steve supports Betsy DeVos because she shares his commitment to increasing local control of our schools with policies that originate with the parents, teachers and administrators who are closest to the classroom,” a spokesperson for Daines said. “Any implication otherwise is both false and an insult to the people of Montana.”
Mary Moe, a longtime advocate for public education who just stepped down from her post in the state senate to help her daughter care for newborn premature triplets, said she is concerned with Daines’ support of DeVos for education secretary and has personally taken to calling the senator and encouraging others to do the same.
“Her record on public education is in complete opposition to it,” Moe said. “She’s never been in public schools, never put her children through public schools. She’s lived a different life from those of us in Montana. We’re proud of our public schools, and we’re proud of our achievements. She’s the wrong woman for the job.”
Moe reiterated that she feels school choice is not an option in Montana.
“When you divert public money for private options, struggling schools will struggle even more,” Moe said. “I would think he would be more concerned.”
The increase in phone calls to the senator also can be attributed to End Citizens United, a Political Action Committee funded by grass-roots donors who describe themselves as “Democrats fighting for reform.” The group announced Jan. 10 that it was ramping up efforts to draw attention to the DeVos family’s donations to senators.
According to OpenSecrets.org, a self-described nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research group for tracking money in U.S. politics, Amway/Alticore, co-owned by the DeVos family, is one of the largest contributors to Daines’ campaign. Between 2013 and 2016, Daines received $28,000 in donations from Amway/Alticore.
Additionally, FollowtheMoney.org, self-described as the nation’s only free, nonpartisan, verifiable archive of contributions to political campaigns in all 50 states, reports Daines has received donations from individual members of the DeVos family totaling $46,800.
“Groups donate to politicians to have influence,” said Jeremy Johnson, associate professor of political science at Carroll College. “In some cases, the politicians already line up with the donors. Other times, groups are trying to influence the politicians to move towards the preferences of the donors. The politicians either already agree or are being pushed to agree. It’s very common.”
Word of donations made by DeVos’ family has unearthed a 1997 op-ed penned by DeVos in the Washington, D.C., newspaper Roll Call. In the piece, DeVos wrote, “I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some things in return.”
In a statement, End Citizens United said it was launching geo-targeted video and graphic ads drawing attention to the donation received by senators on the HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) who voted in favor of DeVos’ nomination.