By Illinois Review
Here in Illinois, Dot Foods, Inc. – a family-owned company that employs more than 6,000 people in the US and Canada – is the nation’s largest distributor of food and related products. Headquartered in Mt. Sterling, IL, the company is owned by twelve siblings, including IL GOP chairman Don Tracy.
Tracy is very proud of the family business, where he is an owner. He brings it up frequently in speeches and it’s even on his bio on the IL GOP website under the section, “Meet Our Chairman.”
But over the last six years, owners of Dot Foods have made some political donations that tell an interesting story.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, owners made a $6,193 donation to Joe Biden.
By contrast, in 2018, owners made a $250 donation to President Donald Trump.
And in 2022, owners made a $3,900 donation to US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R.; a $4,900 donation to US Rep. Rodney Davis, R.; and a $51,000 donation to the Republican Party of Illinois.
Sen. Murkowski remains one of Trump’s most vocal critics. After January 6th, she supported his impeachment and removal from office. On January 9, 2021, Murkowski said, “I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage.”
Murkowski went on to say that, “if the Republican party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me.”
In 2020, US Rep. Rodney Davis was one of 35 House Republicans to support the January 6th Commission to investigate the attack on the US Capitol – a move that angered Trump.
Davis has also said that he’d vote for Liz Cheney for president; he supported some forms of Black Lives Matter ideologies; he said Trump needed to “grow up;” and in 2016, he withdrew his endorsement of then GOP nominee for President Donald Trump.
But these donations should come as no surprise from the owners of Dot Foods. After all, in 2002, Don Tracy ran in the Illinois primary for the 50th State Senate District as a Democrat.
In 2002, Tracy was a registered Democrat. In 2021, he was elected chairman of the IL GOP.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but political donations can tell a story too.
