Democratic strategists say Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resonates with base voters because she’s perceived as an opponent of public education and a billionaire who’s out of touch. | Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images Education DeVos used as a villain to rally Democrats in midterm ads

Democrats intent on making this year's elections a referendum on President Donald Trump's policies are targeting a Cabinet member who galvanizes their base: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

DeVos is cropping up in Democratic TV spots, Facebook ads and debate one-liners in 2018 races, including in her home state of Michigan. Nearly two years after a bruising confirmation battle — and several high-profile stumbles — she remains as polarizing as ever. Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke last week became the latest Democrat to invoke DeVos as he campaigns to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.


While Republicans hammer on fears of immigrants and Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House, Democrats have been using DeVos as a symbol of what's wrong with Trump policies — mentioning her in more than $3 million worth of TV ads that aired more than 6,200 times, according to data provided to POLITICO by Advertising Analytics. The analysis included ads during Democratic primaries earlier this year as well as those being aired in general election contests.

Democratic strategists say DeVos resonates with base voters because she’s perceived as an opponent of public education and a billionaire who’s out of touch.

“Betsy DeVos is basically the embodiment of everything that Democrats were afraid the Trump administration was going to be — from right-wing fanaticism to blatant conflicts of interest to laughable stuff like owning however many yachts she has,” said Stephanie Grasmick, a partner at the Democratic consulting firm Rising Tide Interactive.

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She said DeVos has become an effective “shorthand” for quickly communicating “a lot of Trump administration bad stuff without spending too much time or space within an ad.”

In Texas, a new TV ad touts O’Rourke’s support for public school teachers and attacks Cruz as the “deciding vote in putting Betsy DeVos in charge of our children’s public education.”

In New Mexico, national teachers unions are running a TV ad against the Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Steve Pearce, accusing him of voting to slash funding for public education. “Pearce supports the Betsy DeVos plan to take public school tax dollars to pay for exclusive private schools,” the ad says.

And DeVos has been mentioned in dozens of political ads on Facebook, nearly all of which were negative, according a database the social media platform made public for the first time earlier this year.

Democrats are turning to DeVos in an election year in which education issues have been hotly debated on the campaign trail. They’re trying to capture the same momentum that animated teacher strikes in states such as Arizona, Oklahoma and West Virginia, focusing attention on Democratic plans to boost teacher pay and funding for schools.

DeVos supporters say it won't work. Tommy Schultz, communications director of the American Federation for Children, an organization DeVos founded, dismissed Democrats’ use of the Education secretary in ads as a “half-baked strategy of trying to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.”

“It's likely the death rattle of a candidate's campaign if they're attempting to tie their opponent to a Cabinet secretary,” he said, adding that, in any event, DeVos’ support for school choice policies is popular with voters.

“Attacking a family's right to choose the best school for their child is definitely a losing issue,” he said.

DeVos, for her part, has previously said she thinks the vocal opposition results from her efforts to shake up the education establishment and take on teachers unions.

“Secretary DeVos has encouraged our nation to rethink education and is advancing policies that expand education freedom for students, families and teachers alike,” said DeVos spokeswoman Liz Hill. “Strong majorities of Americans support education freedom, and many states have recently passed laws expanding options for students.”

But Democrats are hoping voters remember DeVos’ confirmation hearing last year — when she suggested that a school might need a gun to ward off grizzly bears and was flustered by some questions about education policy. The hearing went viral and touched off a groundswell of Democratic opposition.

“There was a belief that it would taper off, but she has worked for two years — it’s incredible,” said Larry Huynh, a partner at the left-leaning consulting firm Trilogy Interactive. “DeVos continues to be a figure that engages people, gets them motivated, and she continues to be effective as a fundraising tool for Democrats.”

DeVos could help mobilize and motivate the base voters crucial for Democrats in a midterm election year, Huynh said.

“Betsy DeVos content gets more engagement even when she’s not in the news,” he said. “She is a figure of what is wrong — from Democrats’ perspective, obviously — with the Trump administration and how they’re trying to govern.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said some Democrats see DeVos and her education plan as even more unpopular than Trump. “Candidates need to be held accountable for supporting DeVos’ radical, dangerous and unpopular agenda to make schools about profits instead of helping kids,” she said.

DeVos is getting the most attention on the campaign trail in her home state of Michigan, where her family has long backed conservative causes and focused its philanthropy.

Democratic candidates in Michigan are running digital ads invoking DeVos, and the Michigan Democratic Party has Facebook ads mentioning DeVos in races ranging from state Legislature to Congress to governor.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer has gone on the attack against GOP opponent Bill Schuette, the state’s attorney general, a prominent DeVos ally. Whitmer is airing a TV ad that accuses Schuette of cutting education spending and backing “Betsy DeVos’ plans to send taxpayer dollars to private schools.”

Progress Michigan Political Action Fund, which is funded by unions and other liberal groups, earlier this year launched “BetsyandBill.com," which depicts a cartoon-illustrated story of DeVos and Schuette conspiring against public education.

It’s also not just DeVos’ education record that groups are using to galvanize Democratic voters. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan is running digital ads tying Schuette to DeVos.

“The DeVos family is well known in Michigan for their considerable wealth, extreme conservative values, and the overlap of the two,” said John Keserich, the group’s director of political field operations.

Other candidates have seized on DeVos’ rollback of Obama-era Title IX policies governing campus sexual assault.

Katie Porter, a Democrat who is in a tight race to unseat Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in a Southern California district that went for Hillary Clinton in 2016, is running Facebook videos tying Walters to DeVos.

“Mimi has taken thousands of dollars from the DeVos family and has refused to speak up as Betsy DeVos has repealed protections that keep our sons and daughters safe on college campuses,” Porter says in the 30-second video.

Beyond individual campaigns, DeVos has been a popular target for progressive groups in online digital advertising. Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Campaign Change Committee, which has run Facebook ads mentioning DeVos, said she helps tell a clear story about the Trump administration.

“Education can sometimes be a wonky subject, but Betsy DeVos is the epitome of a villain who the public understands as a threat and is going to fight back against,” Green said. “For progressives, that becomes a springboard to talk about things like debt-free college or more money for schools.”

Even some Republicans seem uneasy about appearing too close to DeVos. Democrat Ben Jealous, the former NAACP president who is making an uphill bid to be governor of Maryland, has repeatedly tried to tie his GOP opponent, Gov. Larry Hogan, to DeVos.

A pro-Jealous group is running a TV ad that features a photo of Hogan and DeVos visiting a school together last year. Trump and DeVos “are already hurting Maryland schools,” the narrator says, adding that “DeVos and Gov. Hogan have similar views.”

During a debate, Jealous slammed Hogan for the appearance with DeVos, suggesting they have a shared agenda. Hogan denied any tie.

“We weren’t going to just tell her she can't come into our state to read with kids,” Hogan retorted. “That's about as far as the connection goes.”