The Smoligarchs is a series on the biggest political donors in Indiana. Every state has influential real estate developers, auto dealership owners, medical industry insiders, large agribusiness farmers, and other wealthy individuals with outsized sway in their communities and at the state level. Many of these folks keep their far-right politics hidden behind philanthropy or operate in the shadows, shunning attention altogether. These are the small-scale oligarchs who own the politicians and REALLY make policy in the Hoosier State.
Why is he on this list?
Byers is the single largest donor to Suzanne Crouch’s gubernatorial campaign.
Where’d this guy get that kind of money?
According to the company’s website, Byers father, Richard Keith Byers, Sr. became operator and part owner of Automotive Color & Supply Corp. in 1960. The business had been established in Fort Wayne in 1951. Rich, as the elder Byers was known, attained full ownership of the company in 1970, and the Byers family has owned and operated Automotive Color as a family business since. Automotive Color is “one of the leading regional automotive and industrial paint and supply distributors in the country… operating throughout Indiana and adjacent markets.” The younger Byers, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from IU, took over the company before his 30th birthday and continued to grow the business for more than 30 years. After retiring, Keith was appointed to the Indiana Alcohol Code Revision Commission in 2017. His son, Josh, now runs Automotive Color, which was acquired in 2023 by St. Louis-based private equity firm WILsquare Capital for an undisclosed amount.
Another nepo baby, huh?
Did you expect anything else.
Does he make other political contributions?
Boy howdy, he does!
Though Lieutenant Governor Crouch is the biggest recipient of Byers’ largesse, he has poured many hundreds of thousands of dollars into (almost exclusively) Republican politics over the years. Much of that goes straight to party committees, with tens of thousands each to:
INDIANA HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS
INDIANA REPUBLICAN SENATE MAJORITY CAMPAIGN CMTE
Indiana Republican State Cmte
National Republican Senatorial Cmte
House Conservatives Fund
But Byers also gives generously to some of the worst, most extreme, far-right individuals in Indiana Republican politics:
Jim Banks
Diego Morales
Curtis HIll
Todd Rokita
Mike Braun
And he also likes to make it rain on prominent national-level MAGA dickweasels like the following:
Tim Scott
Lindsey Graham
Kevin McCarthy
Rick Scott
…and head MAGA dickweasel Donald F’ing Trump himself
That last one should be completely disqualifying and give pause to anyone who has accepted contributions from Byers, including Indiana House minority leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Ft. Wayne).
Byers’ Open Secrets contribution history
Anything else we need to know?
Richard Keith Byers, Jr is also a registered agent of the following businesses:
ACS OF GEORGIA, LLC
3812 Green IndustrialWay
Chamblee GA 30341
Since February 1998
DCGC PROPERTIES LLC
2801 DEER CREEK COUNTRY CLUB BLVD
DEER CREEK GOLF CLUB
DEERFIELD BEACH FL 33442-7911
Since October 2014
Byers keeps a low profile and doesn't really have an internet footprint, magazine puff pieces, or a bunch of stuff named after him like many of the individuals I’ve profiled. I can’t even find a picture of the guy.
He has made at least $30,000 in political contributions through the shell company, Keith Byers LLC.
Finally, our guy is not to be confused with this guy:
If you need to brighten up your morning you’ve got to read today’s “The Borowitz Report “ you can thank me later. I’ve used the term dickweasel many times but I honestly don’t know the scientific description. If you can enlighten me I’d be grateful. 😂😜. Cheers from Lafayette… Go Boilers 🎉
Of course I had to look it up: "dickweasels" – WordSense Online Dictionary (27th March, 2024) URL: https://www.wordsense.eu/dickweasels/
The last example at the end was the best:
“ I’m sure you don't walk around the office calling people dickweasels or buttnuggets—even when they probably deserve it.” “They do deserve it.”
And yes, Byers, among others, is a dickweasel.