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Richard "Dick" DeVos, Jr. is an American businessman and Politician , is a Republican candidate for Governor of the U.S. State of Michigan . He is a son of Billionaire Amway founder Richard DeVos . Dick is a graduate of the Forest Hills public schools and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in business administration from Northwood University . He later went on to attend both the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School 's Executive Study Programs. His wife, , while Elissa is an Undergraduate at Princeton University . Andrea and Ryan are in Secondary School . The family current resides in Ada, Michigan , near the west Michigan city of Grand Rapids . {Link without Title} Until 2002, DeVos was the head of Alticor , where he pioneered the nearly $5 billion company’s expansion into dozens of markets around the world, a decision that has made Alticor a global powerhouse. In 2000, DeVos oversaw a Corporate Restructuring that created Alticor, the new parent company of predecessor Amway Corp., Access Business Group LLC, and Quixtar Inc. Amway has been investigated and cleared by the FTC for suspicion of Pyramid Scheme violations. Amway is accused by some groups as preying on the poor, others praise them for their Charity . DeVos currently sits on the Board Of Directors of many orgainizations, including the Education Freedom Fund , where he was one of the founders. He is also the author of the New York Times best seller "Rediscovering American Values." 2006 GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDACY In June 2005 on Mackinac Island , DeVos announced he was a candidate for governor of Michigan. DeVos is considered to be the richest man to run for statewide office {Link without Title} in Michigan history. The campaign has so far focused on the Economy , as Michigan has had one of the worst Unemployment rates in the country. Opponents of incumbent governor Jennifer Granholm allege that every other state has gained jobs over the last year except Michigan, which has suffered due to close ties with automobile and other manufacturing industries. They claim one job has been lost every 20 minutes during Granholm's term. Critics of Devos are quick to respond that this cannot be solely Granholm's fault, because the Republicans have control of both the Michigan House Of Representatives and the Michigan Senate . They also claim that he Outsourced 1,400 jobs to China . However, the DeVos campaign has maintained that more than 300 high paying jobs were created in Michigan to support the expansion of Alticor into China and no product produced in China is even shipped to the United States. This would show that Alticor has not directly outsourced jobs, but is growing into a global company. It is unclear whether the company considered exporting goods from Michigan to China. Granholm has also been attacked for her apparent support of Michigan's Small Business Tax (SBT), something that no other state uses. The SBT is often cited as one of several culprits in the state's bad businness environment, as it penalizes businesses who lose money. However, Granholm has publicly stated that she does not support the SBT, but rather opposed plans by the Republican-controlled legislature to eliminate the tax without replacing the lost revenue. On the SBT, DeVos said: "The SBT taxes job makers for providing jobs and benefits and investing in equipment. There is no other tax in the nation like it. The job-killing SBT is a 'stick out' tax that makes Michigan 'stick out' to job makers in a bad way. I had a chance to meet with Jim Kodis this week, a job maker at Regal Finishing in Coloma . Would you believe that over the last six years Jim has had to pay 77 percent of his profits to the SBT? Seventy-seven percent. That's over three-fourths of Regal's profits that could have gone to back to the business, creating jobs and providing benefits. But instead, the SBT ate most of the profits and forced Jim to do more with less. That means fewer jobs for people in Coloma and fewer jobs for people all over Michigan because of the SBT." {Link without Title} DeVos complained on Terri Lynn Land did not spark legal action. Land is currently taking part in her own radio and billboard public service announcements in Michigan paid for by the Michigan Pharmacists Association . According to the MPA: "The campaign includes media presentations in key cities (Grand Rapids and Detroit), 20 billboards located throughout the entire state, radio public service announcements, newspaper columns, editorials, and press releases {Link without Title} ." Currently, DeVos trails Granholm 43 percent to 42 percent with 15 percent undecided in a statewide Strategic Vision poll taken April 21 , 2006 . {Link without Title} 2006 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY Challenging DeVos in the Republican primary is Louis Boven . Boven, 46, a chiropractor from Holland, Michigan is a political unknown and describes himself as a "common person" who "picked blueberries and pulled weeds" as a kid, while having a "paper route to buy my bicycles and mini-bikes." He claims to have traveled 25,000 miles with his wife, Mary Jo, over the past year talking to Michigan voters, coming away with the feeling that many Republicans want another choice. Despite Boven's grass-roots campaign style, his limited financial resources and lack of support from the Republican political establishment makes his chances of getting on the Republican primary ballot unlikely, as he has yet to collect enough petition signatures from registered voters. In a newspaper story he said: "There are a lot of Republicans that feel like the choice has been handed to them. It's hard to have lived with that much money to really address the needs of the common laborer, the common businessman." {Link without Title} DeVos was originally facing two other Republicans; state Representative Jack Hoogendyk of Portage and state Senator Nancy Cassis of Novi . Both dropped out by summer 2005, and some Republican insiders consider them likely picks for Lieutenant Governor . TAX STATEMENTS FOR 2006 CANDIDATES Granholm and her husband earned about $178,000 last year in gross income and paid $35,000 in state and federal taxes, according to published 2005 tax returns. {Link without Title} DeVos has not disclosed his personal tax statements, but has released their financial disclosure which made it clear that he has no conflicts of interests with the state. A conflict did emerge between the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids of which DeVos is a partial owner, due to some conferences the state government has held there. {Link without Title} Michigan Democratic Party chairman Mark Brewer and the Granholm campaign have criticized the DeVoses for not releasing his tax returns. DeVos campaign spokesman John Truscott said voters are more worried about the economy than what's being paid in taxes. {Link without Title} EXTERNAL LINKS
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