ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The co-founders of Amway Corp. gave $1.5 million to the Republican Party of Florida for the November election, making them the two biggest individual donors to the state GOP last year.
Election records show that Jay Van Andel, who died Dec. 7 at age 80, made 10 $100,000 donations starting July 27. Forbes magazine estimated Van Andel's fortune at $2.3 billion, 231st on this year's list of the nation's wealthiest people.
Family members of Richard DeVos, who started Amway with Van Andel in 1959, contributed $515,000 in the same period. DeVos, who also owns the Orlando Magic basketball team, was ranked by Forbes as the 60th richest person in the United States, with a personal fortune of $3 billion.
Campaign finance laws forbid unlimited "soft money" contributions to federal candidates or federal party organizations, but not to state parties.
The top two soft money donors to the Florida Democratic Party were the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which gave $332,000, and Jacksonville trial lawyer Wayne Hogan, who contributed $253,000.
Florida clearly chose President Bush over Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004, but the 2000 race between Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore was so close it ended up being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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