As potential Harris VP talk brought attention to Beshear, his PAC fundraising topped $200k
Gov. Andy Beshear didn’t get tapped to run alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House, but he appears to have gotten a financial, as well as political, bump for being in the mix for the role.
In the month of July, when speculation was rampant about the next Democratic ticket both before and after President Joe Biden stepped aside in favor of Harris, the governor brought in a record $216,000 to his political action committee, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The committee, called In This Together, has been raising money since January. Over the course of the last seven months, it’s averaged just over $101,000 each month, with the last three marking roughly $112,000 in May, $164,000 in June and $216,000 in July.
As of Aug. 1, the PAC had about $534,000 on hand, having raised well over $700,000 total.
Beshear’s pinned post on his X profile, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, touts a news article on In This Together. His following on the site has grown extraordinarily over the last couple of months after several appearances in national media and a prime time speech at the Democratic National Convention.
While the attention gained was nationwide, the majority of donors hailed from the Bluegrass State.
Among the itemized contributions, about 65% came from Kentuckians and roughly 15% came from out-of-state donors. The remainder of the itemized contributions came via ActBlue, a major Democratic fundraising service.
Of the donations that rolled in during July, 21 hit the maximum $5,000 mark. Nearly all of those max donations came from Kentucky addresses, with several big donations coming from attorneys and contractors.
Attorneys with Sheffer & Monhollen, Gary Johnson in Pikeville and Stites & Harbison all contributed the maximum amount. Four members of QK4, an engineering firm, combined to contributed $8,000.
Longtime Beshear fundraiser Frank Shoop, an automobile dealer, also contributed the maximum amount.
The only maximum out-of-state donor in the month of July was Edward Necco, a Cincinnati resident who serves as president and CEO of a child welfare company that specializes in adoption and foster care.
Many of the contributions coming from outside Kentucky came in around July 10, around the time when Beshear held a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for In This Together.
The donations ticked up in the latter quarter of July, with $75,000 of the individual contributions coming into the PAC on or after July 21, when President Joe Biden stepped aside and backed Harris for president.
The timing element is particularly relevant when it comes to contributions from other PACs. Of the $30,000 in PAC money that came into In This Together, $20,000 arrived on July 22, one day after Biden’s announcement. That entire bundle came from union groups, including electricians, carpenters, auto workers and food workers.
The United Auto Workers was a major force pushing for Beshear to become Harris’ vice presidential nominee.
So, how will the money raised be spent?
Eric Hyers, Beshear’s longtime political advisor, gave the Herald-Leader some insight.
“You’ll see a second round of endorsements this week. We’re gearing up to spend in races where we feel we can make the biggest impact. Those decisions will get made in the coming weeks,” Hyers said.
Here’s a list of contributors at or above $1,000 to In This Together in the month of July:
Ronald Sheffer (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Self - Contribution: $5,000
Anne Sheffer (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Sheffer & Monhollen PLLC - Contribution: $5,000
Glenn Thomas (Louisville, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Charles Coldiron (Somerset, KY) - Employer: Somerset Hyundai - Contribution: $5,000
Ann Bakhaus (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Kentucky Eagle, Inc. - Contribution: $5,000
Rodney Casada (Somerset, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Edward Necco (Cincinnati, OH) - Employer: Necco - Contribution: $5,000
Clay Corman (Nicholasville, KY) - Employer: CMC Inc. - Contribution: $5,000
John Ridley (Bowling Green, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Kris Mays (Frankfort, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Anita Johnson (Pikeville, KY) - Employer: Law Office of Gary Johnson - Contribution: $5,000
Gary Johnson (Pikeville, KY) - Employer: Law Office of Gary Johnson - Contribution: $5,000
Gemonee Brown (Bowling Green, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Frank Shoop (Lexington, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
William Ramsey (Pikeville, KY) - Employer: Self-Employed - Contribution: $5,000
Timothy Crawford (Corbin, KY) - Employer: Self-Employed - Contribution: $5,000
Robert Beck (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Stites & Harbison - Contribution: $5,000
Ralph Palmer (Winchester, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Patricia Todd (Lexington, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $5,000
Linda Schwartz (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Not Employed - Contribution: $2,500
Paul Schwartz (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Not Employed - Contribution: $2,500
Robert Babbage (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Babbage Strategy - Contribution: $2,500
Tom Hoberman (Woodland Hills, CA) - Employer: Not Employed - Contribution: $2,500
Albert Gross (Lexington, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $2,500
Leslie Haney (Lexington, KY) - Employer: EA Partners - Contribution: $2,500
Josh Wachs (Washington, DC) - Employer: Wachs Strategies - Contribution: $2,500
Stephen Wallace (Prospect, KY) - Employer: ABC Industries - Contribution: $2,500
John Jenkins (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Cornerstone Strategies - Contribution: $2,500
Larry Hayes (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Not Employed - Contribution: $2,500
Thomas Miller (Louisville, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $2,000
Albert Zimmerman (Prospect, KY) - Employer: QKY Engineering - Contribution: $2,000
David Reed (Louisville, KY) - Employer: QKY Engineering - Contribution: $2,000
Michael Vickers (Louisville, KY) - Employer: QKY Engineering - Contribution: $2,000
Taylor Kelly (Versailles, KY) - Employer: QKY Engineering - Contribution: $2,000
Derrick Helm (Jamestown, KY) - Employer: Helm Shearer and Wilson - Contribution: $1,500
Kim Rosenstein (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Not Employed - Contribution: $1,500
Wayne Sobon (San Francisco, CA) - Employer: Juul Labs - Contribution: $1,000
Kiran Bhatraju (Washington, DC) - Employer: Arcadia - Contribution: $1,000
Hannah Ellis (Benton, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $1,000
Kevin Sobkoviak (Washington, DC) - Employer: Iowa Democratic Party - Contribution: $1,000
Thomas McLarty (Little Rock, AR) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $1,000
William McCool (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Bcool Digital - Contribution: $1,000
Elmer George (Lebanon, KY) - Employer: Self - Contribution: $1,000
Andrew Belcher (Madisonville, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $1,000
James Dawahare (Lexington, KY) - Employer: Upper Right Marketing - Contribution: $1,000
R. Webb (Lexington, KY) - Employer: N/A - Contribution: $1,000
Charles Musson (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Rubin & Hays - Contribution: $1,000
Nathan Daschle (Washington, DC) - Employer: The Daschle Group - Contribution: $1,000
Jibreel W. Sarij (Dix Hills, NY) - Employer: Acutis - Contribution: $1,000
Tad Thomas (Prospect, KY) - Employer: Thomas Law Offices - Contribution: $1,000
Roy Steers (Glendale, AZ) - Employer: Self - Contribution: $1,000
James Rose (Louisville, KY) - Employer: Alastair Group - Contribution: $1,000
Matthew Tompkins (Millersville, MD) - Employer: Self - Contribution: $1,000
Jamie Wittman (Lexington, KY) - Employer: RD Property - Contribution: $1,000
This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 11:51 AM.