Rick Scott raises cash for Rubio, other Senate Republicans in Miami hobnob

A slate of Republican senators and Senate candidates — headlined by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott — is huddling in Miami on Thursday for a midterm election fundraiser, as Scott faces questions over a lagging cash haul in competitive races.

Among the GOP senators expected to attend the event are U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, both of whom are seeking reelection in November. Other candidates expected to attend are Blake Masters from Arizona, Adam Laxalt from Nevada, Mehmet Oz from Pennsylvania, J.D. Vance from Ohio, Joe O’Dea from Colorado, Tiffany Smiley from Washington and Ted Budd from North Carolina.

The event is part of a two-day blitz organized by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, with stops in Naples, Palm Beach and Miami, said Chris Hartline, communications director for the NRSC and Scott, who chairs the fundraising committee.

Thursday’s “Take Back the Senate” fundraiser will be hosted by angel investor Jacob Helberg and his spouse, Keith Rabois, a Silicon Valley tech investor who moved to South Florida in 2020 over what he said were concerns about how San Francisco was run. Also on the list of hosts is David Sacks, a venture capital executive formerly of PayPal who currently runs Craft Ventures, a San Francisco-based firm.

Scott’s fundraising for Senate candidates across the country has been in the spotlight recently after several reports have surfaced of Republicans fretting behind closed doors that bickering among leaders and fundraising deficits can thwart what was otherwise expected to be a red wave election year.

Hartline said the three Florida events are expected to raise $1.5 million for candidates and $2 million for the committee. Scott has held fundraising events in 36 different states since he became chair of the NRSC, Hartline said, and has raised “tens of millions” from individual and political action committee donors.

The fundraisers are taking place ahead of the NRSC’s donor retreat in Sea Island, Georgia, a three-day gathering of Republican Senators, candidates and top GOP donors.