Republican nominees in some of the country’s highest-profile Senate contests are set to gather next month in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for a swanky fundraiser as party leaders fret that their candidates are trailing Democratic rivals in fundraising totals and financial strength.
Ohio’s J.D. Vance, Pennsylvania’s Mehmet Oz, Georgia’s Herschel Walker, and North Carolina’s Rep. Ted Budd, the GOP’s picks to take on Democrats in a slate of battleground Senate contests, will appear alongside Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, at an Aug. 10 fundraising event hosted by longtime GOP financier Robert Reynolds. Reynolds is the CEO of Putnam Investments, a Boston-based mutual fund with $167 billion in assets under management.
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Attendees at the 90-minute fundraising reception will be expected to contribute at least $2,500 to the NRSC, while donors hoping to secure a seat at the dinner to follow will be asked to give at least $50,000.
Vance’s appearance at the exclusive, high-dollar fundraiser is particularly notable, given his decidedly populist campaign rhetoric and frequent condemnation of the influence of “elites” in politics. The Ohio Senate hopeful and author of the bestselling 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy has sought to portray himself as the standard-bearer of the GOP’s insurgent populist wing, focusing his campaign on cultural issues while repeatedly arguing that Republicans ought to become the party of the working class.
The Nantucket fundraiser comes as top Republicans are increasingly concerned about Democrats’ financial edge in some of the midterm election’s marquee Senate races. During the Federal Election Commission’s second-quarter reporting period, GOP Senate candidates were swamped by their Democratic opponents in quarterly fundraising totals. Of the Republicans headed to Massachusetts next month, Oz was outraised by Democratic nominee John Fetterman by a 2-1 margin, Walker had less than one-third of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s massive $22 million war chest, and Vance reported bringing in just $1 million to rival Tim Ryan’s $9.1 million haul. According to FEC filings, Vance’s campaign, which is backed by the billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, has more debt than cash on hand.
Scott admitted that Republicans are at a stark fundraising disadvantage this week, warning that his party is at risk of losing winnable Senate races if Democrats continue to hold a commanding financial edge.
“Look, we have great candidates. We have every reason to believe we can win,” Scott said in a Monday speech at the America First Policy Institute. “The issue we’ve got is we’ve got to raise money.”
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Reynolds is no stranger to organizing big-ticket fundraisers for Republican candidates. The Massachusetts investor previously hosted Vice President Mike Pence at his Nantucket home for a $25,000-per-person lunch event in July 2020, and he personally gave more than $800,000 to House and Senate GOP super PACs during the 2020 election cycle.
First lady Jill Biden was also in Nantucket this month, headlining a fundraising event for the Democratic National Committee.
