Todd Spangler

Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – There's no record of Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert giving any money to aid Donald Trump’s campaign directly — at least not yet — but Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, did each write a $75,000 check this month to a joint fund-raising committee set up to elect Hillary Clinton and Democrats across the U.S, according to campaign finance reports.

Before anyone jumps to any conclusion about the real estate and mortgage magnate’s political leanings, however, it’s worth noting that he and his wife also sent nearly $70,000 to the Republican National Committee this month — as well hundreds of thousands more to a half-dozen or so state GOP political committees — and that he gave $1.6 million to committees trying to get New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich elected earlier in the campaign cycle.

It’s a given in any election year that some of Michigan’s wealthiest donors will spread out their contributions across political lines, and a look at Federal Election Commission records — updated Friday with campaign reports through Oct. 19 — proved this year is no different.

For instance, while businessman Roger Penske last year gave $250,000 to a so-called Super PAC supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s ill-fated campaign for president, he and his wife, Kathryn, have since switched to spending a more modest amount — $16,200 — splitting it between U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican in a tough re-election battle in New Hampshire, and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who is not even standing for election this year.

Mohammad Qazi, the president and founder of Ciena Healthcare in Southfield, has put $100,000 into the Michigan Republican Party and given at least three times that amount to the Republican National Committee. But he also wrote a $100,000 check, like Gilbert, to the Hillary Victory Fund, which is split between her committee, the Democratic National Committee and state-based Democratic groups.

“That’s something we see at the state level and the national level, and it shows a lot of this giving is about getting influence,” said Craig Mauger, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, who said he has seen political action committees in Lansing give to both sides as well. “You have a connection regardless of who wins an election.”

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But while there are examples of well-known Michiganders and Michigan families giving across the political aisle, there also are many who this year, as often in the past, have stuck to one side of the line — even if this year’s strained presidential contest has resulted, so far, in a good bit less being raised at the top of the ticket overall.

A Free Press review of finance records showed that as of Oct. 19, the presidential campaigns, their associated Super PACs and joint fund-raising committees had raised just under $17 million in Michigan — a sizable amount, but well below the $28 million raised by President Barack Obama’s and Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns alone in Michigan in 2012.

That’s probably not too surprising given the low approval ratings given both to Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, as well as Trump’s promise early-on in the political campaign to self-fund most of his own effort. Of the two, the effort on Clinton’s behalf has been far more successful, raising nearly $13 million between her campaign, the Super PACs Priorities USA, Correct the Record and American Bridge 21st Century, and the joint Hillary Victory Fund benefiting her and other Democrats.

Among her biggest supporters, Jon Stryker, a Kalamazoo billionaire and heir to a medical equipment fortune, has put $2 million into Priorities USA — likely the single-largest political donation by an individual in the state this cycle — and another $400,000 into the other pro-Clinton Super PACs. His sister, Patricia, who lives in Colorado, has put up similar amounts.

The United Auto Workers Education Fund also has pumped money into the effort to elect Clinton and down-ballot Democrats across the U.S., putting $500,000 into Priorities USA in September, and that same month adding $1 million to the For Our Future PAC, a group formed by California billionaire Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate and labor organizations.

Denise Illitch, a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents and Mike and Marian Ilitch’s daughter, has given $50,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund, as well as donating directly to Clinton’s presidential campaign, though those donations are capped at a modest $2,700 per election (or $5,400 for the primary and general elections both).

On the Republican side, meanwhile, the DeVos family — one of the founding families of Amway, in west Michigan — continued to be large supporters of Republican races, shelling out more than $6 million overall among its various members. Only a relative fraction of that, $210,000, would directly benefit Trump, however; and that was given last month to his victory fund, like Clinton’s, a joint fund-raising effort where much of the money supports other Republican races.

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Earlier in the campaign cycle, the Devos family gave more than $300,000 to Right to Rise, the Super PAC that was backing Bush in the election, and, later, $750,000 to Conservative Solutions PAC, which was supporting U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for his presidential bid. Richard DeVos, who co-founded Amway, and his wife, Helen, have given $1.5 million to the Freedom Partners Action Fund, a conservative committee aligned with the Koch brothers, who have stayed away from aiding Trump.

Since Trump became the de facto nominee in early May, many members of the DeVos family have been concentrating their donations on down-ticket races in Michigan and across the country, while giving the Republican National Committee more than $600,000, the National Republican Senatorial Committee more than $300,000, and Team Ryan — a joint fundraising account linked to House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose troubled relationship with Trump has been well documented — nearly $500,000.

Plenty of other Republicans have been giving substantial amounts as well: Former Slovakian ambassador and state Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser — who has been part of the Trump fund-raising team — has put more than $150,000 into the Trump victory fund and another $100,000 in Future45, a joint effort started by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and TD Ameritrade Holding founder Joe Ricketts.

The David Fischers — Sr. and Jr., of the Suburban Collection car dealerships — have put in at least $430,497 to Republican causes, including $250,000 to the Republican National Committee. FEC records, however, showed a $250,000 refund to one of them — it’s not clear from the record which one — from the Trump Victory Fund back in June.

Recent reports also showed John Rakolta, chairman and CEO of Detroit-based construction company Walbridge, and his wife giving $250,000 between them to the Trump Victory Fund this summer in a sign of a continuing split over Trump in the Romney family circle: Where Mitt Romney, who grew up in Michigan, has widely denounced Trump, Rakolta — whose sister-in-law was previously married to Mitt’s brother Scott — introduced Trump before the Detroit Economic Club this summer. He was previously one of Mitt Romney’s national finance cochairs.

Businessman and Compuware cofounder Peter Karmanos and his wife, Danialle, also have been active, donating more than $900,000 this political cycle, including $125,000 to the Trump Victory Fund in September. Much of that total, $500,000, went to New Day for America, a Super PAC that was pushing Kasich’s presidential run.

The Karmanoses have been spreading their wealth around, too, however, giving $140,000 to the Republican National Committee and $100,000 to Team Ryan, but finding another $33,400 last summer to give to an effort to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.