Devos family is strong. My good friend was running for MI Senate seat last cycle and he was up 3 points with a week to go. After a HUGE push, the DeVos team chewed us up and won by 15. Money does have a say in politics....especially at local levels.
Yes, no question. Those of us who are on this site are by definition people who are interested in knowing the political facts. Much of the voting public are not that interested or informed. They represent an effective target for political ads, robocalls etc., and IMHO are also more likely to vote on the basis of name recognition.