Allies of Mayor Zohran Mamdani are hosting a big New York City fundraiser Monday night for Senate Democratic hopefuls James Talarico of Texas and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Tickets for the Ohio Texas Victory Fund’s “special reception,” set for 7 p.m. in downtown Manhattan, start at $500 for regular attendance and go all the way up to $27,000 a pop for “champion” donors, according to the donation page.
Hollywood star Robert De Niro is expected to introduce the Democratic candidates — whose races could determine which party controls the US Senate next year.
Talarico is facing off against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton and ex-Sen. Brown’s opponent is sitting GOP Sen. John Husted.
The host committee includes controversial jeweler Alexis Bittar, a Mamdani fundraiser and transition bundler who also co-hosted a fundraiser last week for Michigan Democratic senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed — and who once referred to America as a “s–thole.”
“I have three kids and they’re little and they’re growing up in this s–thole,” Bittar said in an interview just before the 250th anniversary celebration of the US.
Last year, Bittar helped release the “Reclaim the Flag” documentary, during which he lamented that the Stars and Stripes had turned into a “symbol of aggression.”
Co-hosts also include many activists from the LGBT community — including the Human Rights Campaign PAC and HRC president Kelley Robinson, as well as Shameek Bose, who sits on the national board of directors for GLAAD.
Bose, a marketing executive, also co-hosted a December 2025 fundraiser for Mamdani’s mayoral transition.
Other host committee members include:
- Shaifali Puri, the wife of Daily Show comedian Aasif Mandvi, was appointed to serve on Mamdani’s 20-member transition committee on legal affairs.
- Filmmaker and longtime Mamdani family friend Shruti Rya Ganguly.
- Author Adriana Trigiani, who co-hosted a transition committee fundraiser for Mamdani.
- Powerhouse lawyer Victor Kovner, who wrote a column last year making the case for Mamdani with Jewish voters.
It’s a well-worn tradition for candidates from other states to come to blue New York and raise campaign cash from well-heeled New York donors, even socialist-friendly ones.
Republicans have spent the election cycle seeking to tie their Democratic opponents to the socialist New York City mayor.
But President Trump’s bromance with Mamdani, including last week’s friendly meeting and press conference with the mayor at Gracie Mansion, has complicated that attack line.
Reps for the Talarico and Brown campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
