Nation's largest teachers' unions donated $2.25 million to reelect Democrat governor who enforced lengthy school closures

The two largest teachers' unions in the nation donated at least $2.25 million this year to campaigns supporting the reelection of Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Fox News Digital reported.

The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers donated to "Put Michigan First," a 527 federal organization backing Whitmer. The group is aligned with the Democratic Governors Association, a political organization dedicated to supporting Democratic governors across the country.

In July, the National Education Association's advocacy fund gave Put Michigan First $1 million.

AFT Solidarity, a group affiliated with the AFT, sent a total of $1.25 million to the pro-Whitmer group this year in two separate donations in April and October.

The $2.25 million contributed by the NEA and the AFT to Whitmer's reelection includes only donations to Put Michigan First. The teachers' unions could have also provided additional donations to other groups supporting Whitmer's reelection.

Put Michigan First also received $10.7 million from the Democratic Governors Association, $2 million from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and $100,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a progressive nonprofit organization.

Donations to Put Michigan First were disclosed in public forms reported to the IRS, Fox News Digital reported.

Taylor Budowich, the head of the political action committee MAGA Inc., told the news outlet, "There's no organization that has done more to destroy the future of children than the NEA, and no bigger rubber stamp for their anti-child agenda than Gretchen Whitmer."

"Their flashy ads won't give children years of their lives and education back, it won't make Michigan families forget about their draconian lockdowns and closures, and it won't stop voters from electing Tudor Dixon on Nov. 8," Budowich stated.

The Republican candidate in Michigan's race, Tudor Dixon, accused Whitmer of taking orders from her "union bosses" to shutter schools in response to COVID. Dixon argued that the governor kept the schools closed for too long with "disastrous lockdown policies" that caused an "education crisis."

"She stood on the debate stage and blatantly lied that Michigan schools were only closed down for three months," Dixon told Fox News Digital.

Whitmer initially ordered schools to close down from March 16 through April 5, 2020. Then, on November 15, 2020, she ordered high schools and colleges statewide to suspend in-class teaching for three weeks. In April 2021, Whitmer again encouraged schools to teach remotely for another two weeks.

Some Michigan schools continued remote learning for the entire 2020-2021 school year. Schools in Ann Arbor and Flint began the 2022 school year with remote learning.

"Her running-mate Garlin Gilchrist even had the audacity to say we must first take care of the adults in our education system — total disregard for kids and parents," Dixon said. "Gretchen is gaslighting the people of Michigan and is attempting to rewrite history to save face for her disastrous lockdown policies. I will put students over systems and will empower parents every step of the way."

Whitmer's campaign did not respond to a request for comment, Fox News Digital reported.