DAN MCKEE AND HIS RIGHT-WING BILLIONAIRE BUDDIES
Dan McKee is a flat-out pro-charter school politician, pushing for privatization of our public schools. He is running for re-election as Lt. Governor of Rhode Island. A supporter of DeVos-style education privatization, McKee has earned praise from Trump Education Secretary DeVos who referred to him as a champion and thanked him for promoting her reform agenda. But McKee’s ties to DeVos don’t end there—Dan McKee is being boosted by several other supporters of Betsy DeVos and the Trump agenda.WALTON BILLIONAIRES PUSH RI WORKERS INTO POVERTY — AND MCKEE INTO POLITICS
McKee’s biggest patron is the Walton family, the multi-billionaire heirs and heiresses to the Wal-Mart fortune. Wal-Mart treats Rhode Islanders terribly—in 2014, Americans for Tax Fairness estimated that Wal-Mart pay for its Rhode Island workers was so low that employees were forced to rely on $11 MILLION in public assistance —but the Walton family couldn’t love Dan McKee more. In 2014 alone, Walton family members supported McKee to the tune of $100,000. In the 2018 race, McKee has accepted contributions from Wal-Mart heiress Carrie Walton Penner, a major charter school proponent. Just like McKee, the Walton family is also sweet on Betsy DeVos. The Walton Family Foundation has donated a total of $24,740,501 to Betsy DeVos’s school privatization group, the Alliance for School Choice. In the past ten years for which data is available, Walton Family Foundation contributions to Alliance for School Choice have amounted to an average of 32.29% of the organization’s annual revenue.Year | Contribution total | WFF total | Percent WFF |
2014 | $9,311,753.00 | $3,540,000.00 | 38.02% |
2013 | $9,360,660.00 | $3,163,500.00 | 33.80% |
2012 | $5,193,313.00 | $1,700,000.00 | 32.73% |
2011 | $6,309,253.00 | $1,202,000.00 | 19.05% |
2010 | $3,906,508.00 | $2,308,376.00 | 59.09% |
2009 | $3,232,978.00 | $1,350,379.00 | 41.77% |
2008 | $5,766,683.00 | $2,231,880.00 | 38.70% |
2007 | $10,443,330.00 | $1,624,686.00 | 15.56% |
2006 | $6,855,656.00 | $2,247,095.00 | 32.78% |
2005 | $6,883,856.00 | $1,862,034.00 | 27.05% |
2004 | $4,181,879.00 | $695,551.00 | 16.63% |
Average: | 32.29% |
Date | Donor | Amount | DFER Connection |
12/10/2012 | DFER RI PAC (DEMOCRATS FOR EDUCATION REFORM) | $500.00 | DFER’s PAC |
10/21/2013 | Tilson, Whitney R | $500.00 | DFER founder |
5/4/2014 | Williams, Joeseph | $1,000.00 | DFER exec. Director |
3/30/2013 | Williams, Joseph Clarke | $1,000.00 | DFER exec. Director |
3/30/2013 | Williams, Anne Martin | $1,000.00 | Joe Williams’ wife |
6/25/2014 | Tilson, Susan | $250.00 | Tilson’s wife |
3/5/2013 | Tilson, Whitney R | $250.00 | DFER founder |
3/12/2014 | Tilson, Whitney R | $1,000.00 | DFER founder |
3/30/2013 | Curry IV, Ravenel Boykin | $500.00 | DFER member |
3/23/2012 | DFER RI PAC (DEMOCRATS FOR EDUCATION REFORM) | $500.00 | DFER |
DAN MCKEE AND THE BILLIONAIRES WHO BROUGHT US THE OPIOID CRISIS
To hear Dan McKee tell it, he’s been the state’s staunchest fighter of the opioid manufacturers. But the truth is very different. His own website claims that McKee “is leading Rhode Island communities in the fight against the prescription opioid epidemic by filing a suit against the companies responsible for fueling the epidemic across Rhode Island.” That probably makes for awkward table talk with one of his largest campaign donors, the billionaire heirs to the OxyContin fortune. McKee has accepted thousands of dollars in direct contributions from the Sackler family and their employees. The Sacklers are the billionaire heirs to the OxyContin fortune, and their company, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, is being sued by several states attorneys general (including Rhode Island), for their role in fueling the opioid crisis. McKee has accepted a total of $6,500 from Jonathan Sackler, Sackler’s spouse, and two of the employees of the company that manages his private fortune.Date | Contributor | Employer | Amount |
6/28/2013 | Olson, Brian | Kokino LLC | $1,000.00 |
4/2/2014 | Olsen, Brian | Kokino LLC | $500.00 |
12/26/2013 | Olsen, Jill | Kokono LLc | $1,000.00 |
6/24/2013 | Sackler, Jonathan D | Purdue Pharma | $1,000.00 |
10/1/2015 | Sackler, Jonathan D | Purdue Pharma | $1,000.00 |
4/1/2014 | Sackler, Jonathan | North Bay Associates | $1,000.00 |
06/24/2013 | Corson, Mary | Not Employed | $1,000.00 |