KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hallmark Cards said Monday that it wants U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Roger Marshall of Kansas to return employee campaign donations, after the senators challenged Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
The Kansas City-based greeting card company said its employees donated $7,000 to Hawley and $5,000 to Marshall during the last two years through the Hallmark Card political action committee, The Kansas City Star reported.
“Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind,” Hallmark spokeswoman JiaoJiao Shen said in a statement. “The recent actions of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall do not reflect our company’s values. As a result, HALLPAC requested Sens. Hawley and Marshall to return all HALLPAC campaign contributions.”
Hawley was a leader of efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and Marshall also voted last Wednesday to question the results of the Electoral College count, even after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol.
Neither Hawley’s or Marshall’s office immediately returned messages seeking a response to Hallmark’s request.
Hallmark’s political action committee generally spends between $50,000 and $60,000 annually on campaign activities, with donations divided nearly evenly between Republican and Democratic candidates, Shen said.
Commerce Bank, another Kansas City-based company, announced on Monday that it also would suspend donations to any members of Congress who opposed recognizing Biden’s victory.
Several other large companies, including American Express and JPMorgan Chase have either suspended donations to members of Congress who voted against certifying Biden’s win, or have suspended political donations altogether.
