Vice President JD Vance raised a record-breaking $3 million for Republicans during a high-dollar fundraiser on Tuesday in deep blue Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The fundraising dinner at a private residence hosted by Laura and Rob Reynolds with Dave Kelsey and Ozzie Palomo set a new record for any Republican National Committee donor event on the Massachusetts island.
“Vance as RNC finance chair has been a difference maker already,” a Republican strategist told The New York Post. “If you look at the DNC, there is no one with a similar stature headlining event after event for them.”
Since President Donald Trump and Vance took office this year, the Republican National Committee has raised more than $96 million in donations and maintains a huge war chest of nearly $81 million cash on hand.
The Democratic National Committee, on the other hand, is reportedly struggling with just over $15 million in available funds despite raising $69 million since January.
The Reynolds couple previously hosted a 2022 “Take Back the Senate Reception & Dinner” that drew major GOP figures including Vance, who was running for Senate in Ohio at the time.
Palomo serves as founding partner and managing director of Chartwell Strategy Group, a lobbying firm specializing in communications, government relations and risk management. He previously worked as a fundraiser for Nikki Haley but now focuses on bundling donations for the RNC.
Kelsey works as managing principal at Hamilton Point Investments, a real estate private-equity company that owns and manages multifamily apartments. The longtime GOP donor founded CT Truth PAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing Republicans to Connecticut offices.
Of course, not everyone in the deep blue island was happy. Far-left protesters organized by Amanda McGonigle, creator of the viral cat Instagram page with over one million followers, demonstrated against Vance’s visit. The activists dubbed the island “Meowtucket” during their protest at Children’s Beach.
“We’re going to protest JD Vance and literally everything that the man and the administration stands for. There are organizations on the island that are deeply affected by this administration’s policies and funding cuts, and of course the immigrant population on the island remains unsettled,” McGonigle said.
The demonstrations were co-sponsored by leftist groups including Indivisible Nantucket, Mass 50501, Indivisible Upper Cape, Mid Cape Indivisible, and Cape Cod Women for Change.
Security measures were implemented around Nantucket Memorial Airport for Vance’s arrival. The vice president has faced protests at multiple fundraising events this summer, including demonstrations outside a sushi restaurant during his San Diego visit earlier this month.