Michelle Nunn’s tapping the celebrity circuit this week.
Fresh off an appearance with first lady Michelle Obama at a voter registration rally and private fundraiser in Atlanta Monday, the Democrat Senate candidate was off to Hollywood, according to the Hollywood Reporter. On Saturday, star power will glow back in Atlanta, when former President Bill Clinton joins Nunn at a soiree at the home of hip-hop artist Usher.
The fund-raising rounds signal the final stretch of Georgia’s political campaigns, the most contested in years. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter, who also appeared with the first lady at the voter registration event, started a new ad emphasizing his education focus, according to media reports. He and incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal are also stepping up private-event fund-raising.
While Nunn milks Hollywood, following Carter’s success with film titans, Republican Senate candidate David Perdue seeks to harvest money in Washington.
As outside Republican groups continue a heavy barrage of TV ads targeting Nunn, her Hollywood trip shows her dependence on her own campaign funds. While women’s advocacy group EMILY’s List has launched ads blasting Perdue, Nunn and Carter have received relatively little support from outside groups.
The Republican Governors’Association has bought ad time to support Deal, but the National Democratic Governors Group has done little for Carter outside of retweeting his tweets. A call to the Democratic group in Washington was not returned.
The Democratic National Committee, which recently met in Atlanta, has not yet delivered on promises to step up for Nunn and Carter.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Nunn is joining fellow Democratic Senate candidates Alison Lundergan Grimes of Kentucky and Corey Booker of New Jersey in an entertainment industry push to raise funds and keep the Senate in Democratic hands.
While polls show Booker with a comfortable lead, Grimes is falling behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel in Kentucky, the Reporter said. A recent poll showed Nunn trailing Perdue.
The Reporter said that an email invitation to separate Hollywood events for the three candidates “desperately urged the industry Democrats to open their wallets.”
Nunn was to appear Tuesday “at an early evening reception at the Hancock Park mansion of media moguls Michael Kong and Stacey Twilley,” the Hollywood Reporter said. Howie Mandel of “Deal or Not to Deal” fame was among hosts contributing $5,200 each.
Grimes’ fund-raiser Sept. 18 involves a brighter magnitude of stars, invited by DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has raised well over $1 million for Grimes, the newspaper said. Katzenberg has also contributed $12,600 to Carter’s campaign, according to his latest campaign contributions report.
Over the weekend, Booker appeared at the home of “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner.
Deal and Perdue don’t feel much love in Hollywood, but are drawing support from GOP political heavyweights. A Sept. 21 “roundtable chat” at the Cobb Energy Centre – at $25,000 to enter – features Perdue along with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, National Republican Senate Committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the AJC reported. Perdue appeared at a Monday event in Washington featuring former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former U.S. Sen. and Gov. George Allen of Virginia.
While Carter has reached out to Hollywood and other national Democratic circles, he has also received support from local personalities, although Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been lukewarm at best, as the AJC highlighted this week.
Carter’s most recent campaign statement, filed June 30, shows $6,300 from baseball home run king Henry Aaron, and the same amount from Aaron’s wife, Billye. Carter also received two $1,000 payments from Joseph A. Bankoff, chair of Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Other supporters include former Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders. He also received a $1,000 donation from Washington lobbyist Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., son of former Louisiana Reps. Hale Boggs and Lindy Boggs and the brother of ABC News commentator Cokie Roberts.
Deal’s campaign report shows a $2,500 donation from the Atlanta Braves. Not to be outdone by entertainment companies, the governor also listed $2,000 each from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, known for Fox News, and the Sony Corporation. Here in Atlanta, Tyler Perrry Studios donated $6,300. Comcast Corp. gave $2,300.
The incumbent also received $330 in two payments from Hank Huckaby, chancellor of the University of Georgia System, and $1,000 from former Georgia Tech football star and real estate developer John Dewberry.
