Senators take fundraising efforts to Nats playoff games

Multiple senators are holding fundraisers at Washington Nationals games, seeking to take advantage of the D.C. team advancing in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is up for reelection in 2020, is slated to hold a fundraiser on Wednesday for game five of the National League Championship Series.

“[W]e have a box so you can catch up with the Senator and his [chief of staff], Pat Souders while watching a heck of a game!” reads the invite obtained by The Hill.

{mosads}Tickets are $2,500 each and contributions go to Friends of Dick Durbin or his political action committee, Prairie PAC. Jesse Lirtzman of LaFave & Associates, a fundraising and political consulting firm, is organizing the event.

The previous night, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who is not up for reelection until 2024, is slated to hold a fundraiser in the suite above third base, according to the invite obtained by The Hill.

Tickets are $2,000 and Tonya Fulkerson of Fulkerson Kennedy & Company, a fundraising and event planning firm, is organizing the event.

At least one Republican has also sought to raise money during Nationals games. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who is up for reelection next year, held a fundraiser Oct. 6 during the first round of the MLB playoffs, when the Nationals played the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The invite, obtained by The Hill, said special guests included Raymond Sass, Sasse’s chief of staff, and Tyler Grassmeyer, Sasse’s deputy chief of staff, among others.

For one ticket, they asked for $1,500 from PACs and $1,000 in individual contributions. For two tickets, they requested $2,000 from PACs and $1,750 in personal contributions.

The three campaigns did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

The Nationals are set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals for the second round of the MLB playoffs starting Friday night in Missouri.

Missouri GOP Sens. Roy Blunt, who is up for reelection in 2022, and Josh Hawley, who is up for reelection in 2024, did not respond to The Hill’s inquiry about if they are holding fundraisers around the series.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), an area senator who is up for reelection next year, also did not respond to The Hill.