Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley is planning a fundraising swing through Washington, D.C., this month, including an event with lobbyists.
The campaign stop, billed as a roundtable discussion and reception, is set to take place Nov. 13 and is hosted by several lobbyists from the firm BGR Group and other shops.
BGR lobbyist Jennifer Larkin Lukawski, principal Robb Walton, and the firm’s CFO Todd Eardensohn are among the hosts for the event, according to an invitation.
The fundraiser comes as Haley is drawing attention and rising in some polls. She has pulled even for second with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the first in the nation caucus state of Iowa in a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted Oct. 22-26. Former President Donald Trump led in the poll.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, is generating more interest among lobbyists and political operatives, said Ozzie Palomo, a founder of Chartwell Strategy Group who has been helping the Haley campaign with fundraising efforts. He said her performance at the presidential debates has increased focus on the candidate among donors nationwide.
“The interest from downtown is mirroring interest across the country,” said Palomo, who is on the host committee for the Nov. 13 event.
Lukawski said she was co-hosting the event in her individual capacity, not on behalf of BGR.
“Having said this, I am very proud and excited to support her,” she said in an email. “As a working mom, I feel strongly that given everything happening around the world and here at home, that we need a lionhearted, principled, Republican woman calling the shots.”
The invitation says that others hosting the event include Ashley Davis, a lobbyist at West Front Strategies with such clients as T-Mobile USA and PNC Financial Services Group.
BGR Group lobbyist Lester Munson is another co-host; Munson’s clients include the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, RTX Corp., and the Better World Fund, according to lobbying disclosures.
Haley has said on the stump that foreign lobbying should be outlawed while still raising money from lobbyists with foreign clients, according to ABC News and other reports. Some of the lobbyists hosting the event, such as Munson and Palomo, represent foreign clients.
“Ban all foreign lobbying,” Haley posted on X, formerly Twitter, in April.
Haley’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The campaign had raised $18.7 million as of Sept. 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings, and had $11.6 million cash on hand on that date.
Texas, South Carolina, and Florida are the three states where donors have contributed the most, FEC data show, while Washington, D.C., was 34th.
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