Presidential candidate Donald Trump has bragged throughout the Republican nomination process that he was self-funding his campaign and that it meant he was not beholden to special interests like other candidates.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore cc
That phase of the campaign is ending (though he was never fully self-funding his campaign and actively solicited donations on his website)—and it’s taking place in Albuquerque.
Trump’s campaign will hold a $10,000 a plate fundraiser, hosted by Kevin R. Daniels. Daniels, who once owned a chain of funeral homes throughout New Mexico, told the Washington Post that Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus himself asked Daniels to host the fundraiser.
Daniels said he expected 20 to 25 people to show up to the fundraiser.
Daniels is a prominent Republican donor in the state, and has donated to the campaign of Susana Martinez as well as Susana PAC in the past.
Martinez said she will not attend the Trump rally and has declined to endorse Trump so far.
The fundraiser comes as the Republican standard-bearer travels to Albuquerque for a rally that is expected to draw large crowds—both for those who support Trump and those who wish to protest Trump.
More from the Post:
It’s the first high-dollar fundraiser for the real estate developer, who spent much of the GOP primary contest decrying the influence of wealthy donors on his rivals. But since securing the nomination, Trump’s campaign has scrambled to set up an infrastructure to bring in large contributions to finance a costly fall get-out-the-vote operation. Trump has said he believes that he and the party can jointly raise $1 billion.
Earlier this month, he established a joint fundraising committee with the RNC and 11 state parties that can accept checks up to $449,400 per person. That’s more than has ever been sought by presidential nominees through such ventures, thanks to legal changes made in 2014 that expanded the fundraising abilities of national parties.
The likely Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has used a similar joint fundraising committee to raise money for her campaign, state parties and national Democrats.
Her Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders, has accused Clinton of breaking campaign finance law and pocketing all of the money for her own campaign.
The $10,000 fundraiser in Albuquerque is a bargain—his next fundraiser, according to the Post, is in Los Angeles and will cost $25,000 per donor.
Correction: this originally referred to Donald Trump as president. He is still presidential candidate and the likely Republican nominee.
Correction: This story originally said that Daniels owns a chain of funeral homes. Daniels sold the company in 2012. We regret the error.
