Dan Gilbert with Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones (File photo)
Billionaire Dan Gilbert is backing the two Republican senators in Georgia, site of runoff elections today that could determine which party controls the Senate.
Gilbert, his family members and the political action committee for one of his Detroit-based companies have contributed to their campaigns, Steve Neavling of Metro Times reports.
Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group that examined campaign finance records, reports that Gilbert donated the maximum allowed, $2,800, to Sen. David Perdue. His family members chipped in an additional $2,800.
The political action committee of Gilbert’s Detroit-based Rock Holdings gave $5,000 to Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Nov. 14, Metro Times reports. The PAC also contributed $7,500 to Perdue in June and $5,000 to the Georgia Republican Party on Nov. 11.
Other Gilbert-related contributions:
► Matt Cullen, former CEO of Bedrock Detroit and current principal and chairman of Gilbert's JACK Entertainment donated $2,800 to Perdue in June, before the general election.
► Jay Farner, an executive at Gilbert’s Quicken Loans, donated $2,000 to Perdue in July 2019
In 2016, Gilbert backed GOP presidential primary candidates Chris Christie and John Kasich.
"We have often supported both political parties in the same election so that we have the ability to impact positive change," Gilbert said in 2017.
After Donald Trump's election, Gilbert's Quicken Loans donated $750,000 to the 2017 inauguration. At the time, the Justice Department was suing Gilbert's mortgage company, alleging it ignored red flags on bad home loans that cost the government millions of dollars. Quicken refused at the time to settle, insisting it had done nothing wrong.
In 2019, after battling the feds in court since 2015, Quicken Loans paid $32.5 million to settle Justice Department claims of impromper lending practices involvling the Federal Housing Administration. The settlement came with no admission of wrongdoing.
Related:
Lengel: Can $750,000 Buy Dan Gilbert Justice In The Trump Era?, March 1, 2017
