Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Attend Private Presidential Campaign Fundraiser in New York
Fundraiser Details
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is coming to New York for a private presidential campaign fundraiser that’s set to be hosted by at least four Wall Street executives, including one with past ties to a firm backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of DeSantis and other Republicans.
The event is scheduled to take place June 29 at the swanky Yale Club, according to a copy of an invitation seen by HaberTusba. It will be one of DeSantis’ first fundraisers in the Big Apple since he officially launched his campaign for president last month.
According to the invitation, in order to attend the DeSantis fundraiser, a co-host must raise $50,000 and attendees to the lunch must contribute $6,600, the maximum amount a donor can give that can then be split evenly between the primary campaign account and the general election account.
Hosts and Donors
The hosts listed on the DeSantis invitation include Paul Ardire, a partner at GoldenTree Asset Management, along with Christian Michalik, Rob Michalik and Corwynne Carruthers, who are all leaders at Kinderhook Industries, a private equity firm with at least $5 billion in assets under management, according to data from PitchBook. GoldenTree has at least $50 billion in assets under management, PitchBook says.
One of the hosts, Michalik, was a partner at Soros Private Equity Partners, a leveraged buyout fund sponsored by George Soros, according to Michalik’s corporate biography on Kinderhook’s website. He was a partner there from 1999 until 2003, before founding Kinderhook, according to Michalik’s LinkedIn page.
During the 2022 election cycle Michalik gave $5,800 to Jesse Reising, a Republican who lost in a primary for an Illinois House seat.
DeSantis and Soros
DeSantis has taken aim at candidates financed by Soros, a Democratic megadonor. “In Florida we’ve recognized the menace posed by left wing prosecutors who get elected usually with big campaign contributions from people like George Soros,” he said earlier this month while on the campaign trail.
Soros is routinely the target of attacks from other Republicans, as well.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, said in a statement to HaberTusba: “Governor DeSantis enjoys broad support, including from Disney expats and even a former Soros employee who rejects the woke and embraces law and order. We will gladly utilize any contributions to oppose Soros’ agenda and benefit the American people.”
Support from Business Community
The relative lack of contributions from the other hosts suggests a possible lack of interest from some of the bigger GOP donors in the business community when it comes to helping DeSantis, according to a Republican strategist familiar with the event.
Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of private equity giant Blackstone and a veteran GOP megadonor, is reportedly holding off on backing DeSantis after meeting with the Florida governor, according to Bloomberg.
Still, even without the help from the likes of Schwarzman, DeSantis raised over $8 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign’s launch.
Yale Connection
DeSantis and the event’s co-hosts have ties to the fundraiser’s venue due to them all being Yale graduates. Yale Club members can only be those who received a degree from the Ivy League school or “full-time graduate students who are completing a degree-granting program at Yale, and full-time professors,” according to their website.
DeSantis graduated from Yale in 2001. DeSantis said in a book released just before he ran for president that he viewed earning a degree from Yale was the equivalent of being a political “scarlet letter” in a Republican primary.
“I am one of very few people who went through both Yale and Harvard Law School and came out more conservative than when I went in,” DeSantis wrote in his book. “If I could withstand seven years of indoctrination in the Ivy League, then I will be able to survive Washington, D.C. without going native.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Attend Private Presidential Campaign Fundraiser in New York
Fundraiser Details
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is coming to New York for a private presidential campaign fundraiser that’s set to be hosted by at least four Wall Street executives, including one with past ties to a firm backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of DeSantis and other Republicans.
The event is scheduled to take place June 29 at the swanky Yale Club, according to a copy of an invitation seen by HaberTusba. It will be one of DeSantis’ first fundraisers in the Big Apple since he officially launched his campaign for president last month.
According to the invitation, in order to attend the DeSantis fundraiser, a co-host must raise $50,000 and attendees to the lunch must contribute $6,600, the maximum amount a donor can give that can then be split evenly between the primary campaign account and the general election account.
Hosts and Donors
The hosts listed on the DeSantis invitation include Paul Ardire, a partner at GoldenTree Asset Management, along with Christian Michalik, Rob Michalik and Corwynne Carruthers, who are all leaders at Kinderhook Industries, a private equity firm with at least $5 billion in assets under management, according to data from PitchBook. GoldenTree has at least $50 billion in assets under management, PitchBook says.
One of the hosts, Michalik, was a partner at Soros Private Equity Partners, a leveraged buyout fund sponsored by George Soros, according to Michalik’s corporate biography on Kinderhook’s website. He was a partner there from 1999 until 2003, before founding Kinderhook, according to Michalik’s LinkedIn page.
During the 2022 election cycle Michalik gave $5,800 to Jesse Reising, a Republican who lost in a primary for an Illinois House seat.
DeSantis and Soros
DeSantis has taken aim at candidates financed by Soros, a Democratic megadonor. “In Florida we’ve recognized the menace posed by left wing prosecutors who get elected usually with big campaign contributions from people like George Soros,” he said earlier this month while on the campaign trail.
Soros is routinely the target of attacks from other Republicans, as well.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, said in a statement to HaberTusba: “Governor DeSantis enjoys broad support, including from Disney expats and even a former Soros employee who rejects the woke and embraces law and order. We will gladly utilize any contributions to oppose Soros’ agenda and benefit the American people.”
Support from Business Community
The relative lack of contributions from the other hosts suggests a possible lack of interest from some of the bigger GOP donors in the business community when it comes to helping DeSantis, according to a Republican strategist familiar with the event.
Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of private equity giant Blackstone and a veteran GOP megadonor, is reportedly holding off on backing DeSantis after meeting with the Florida governor, according to Bloomberg.
Still, even without the help from the likes of Schwarzman, DeSantis raised over $8 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign’s launch.
Yale Connection
DeSantis and the event’s co-hosts have ties to the fundraiser’s venue due to them all being Yale graduates. Yale Club members can only be those who received a degree from the Ivy League school or “full-time graduate students who are completing a degree-granting program at Yale, and full-time professors,” according to their website.
DeSantis graduated from Yale in 2001. DeSantis said in a book released just before he ran for president that he viewed earning a degree from Yale was the equivalent of being a political “scarlet letter” in a Republican primary.
“I am one of very few people who went through both Yale and Harvard Law School and came out more conservative than when I went in,” DeSantis wrote in his book. “If I could withstand seven years of indoctrination in the Ivy League, then I will be able to survive Washington, D.C. without going native.”