Democrat governors, many believed to be vying for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination, gathered on Thursday for a pricey Los Angeles fundraising event.
The private gathering — where tickets cost as much as $100K a pop — was attended by top party members like Gov. Gavin Newsom, Arizona’s Gov. Katie Hobbs, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others, the LA Times reported.
A ticket to attend the event, closed to the press, cost anywhere from $45,000 up to $100,00, with the money going to the Democrat Governors Association (DGA). The evening was expected to rake in $1.5 million dollars for the DGA, with around 45 donors in attendance.
Also in attendance was chair of the DGA Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Beshar, Whitmer, and Newsom are all believed to be interested in running for president in the 2028 election.
According to the DGA website, the group is dedicated to electing Democrat governors and candidates, helping at all levels of the campaign.
The event was held at the upscale mansion owned by liquor heiress Ellen Bronfman Hauptman and husband Andrew Hauptman.
The Democratic party members mingled and talked politics with members of the Hollywood elite. Executive producer of the “The Hangover” movie series, Scott Budnick, was in attendance, along with director J.J. Abrams, “Lost” screenwriter Damon Lindelof, and former Walt Disney executive Alan Horn.
Attendees enjoyed hors d’oeuvres by the pool and sipped cocktails, before heading back indoors where the focus of the discussion was on how best to win back the White House in 2028.
The group agreed that the battle would be won if the conversation was about results from governors in states rather than on ideological issues.
Despite playing coy, Newsom recently dropped a political bomb, hinting that he’ll make a run for the White House in 2028.
“If we don’t take back the House of Representatives in 2026. Nothing else matters,” Newsom said from the stage at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin in March.
When asked about a “second date” with his supporters at the ballot box in 2028, Newsom said, “the work that needs to be done between now and then to get Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries that gavel. If we can do that? Then you and I can go on a second date,” Newsom said.
It is not the first time the Hauptmans have held fundraising events for the party. In 2022, former President Joe Biden attended an event held at the heiress and her husband’s home where nearly $2.5 million dollars was raised for the DNC, Variety reported.
The California Post reached out to the Democratic Governors Association for further comment.
