Leave it to Washington to turn college basketball into a political fundraising fiesta.
With March Madness in full swing, the nation’s capital is gearing up to host the East Regionals next week at the Verizon Center. But basketball players won’t be the only ones scoring big inside the Beltway this year.
Lawmakers are taking full-court advantage of the NCAA tournament, throwing thousand-dollar basketball-themed political fundraisers at the Verizon Center, with some parties costing upwards of $5,000 a person, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time database.
To get things warmed up, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., already hosted a “Gear Up for March Madness Reception” last week at Google’s Washington office, raking in $2,000 per PAC and $1,000 per party guest.
Not to be outdone, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, also used the upcoming tournament to scrounge up some extra cash with a kickoff party at the Diageo Townhouse, the world's biggest booze producer (despite Crapo’s Mormon-based faith and his recent drunk driving accident). Still, that didn’t stop him from brining in thousands of dollars ($2,000 per PAC, $1,000 per individual.)
Other apparent basketball fans latching onto the ‘Madness’ include Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, who is hosting a doubleheader ‘Sweet 16’ fundraiser at the Verizon Center (never mind his Iowa Cyclones won’t be playing). Still, anyone who wants to accompany Braley to the games is going to pay the piper at a whopping $5,000 per person.
Reps. Jim Moran, D-VA, Dutch Ruppersberger, D-MD and Eliot Engel, D-NY, aren’t missing out on the action, either (even though all of their states’ teams are). Like Braley, they will all be setting up shop at the Verizon Center, charging $2,000 a person to “party” with them.
Even the National Republican Congressional Committee is joining in on the madness, using the college basketball tournament as an opportunity to slam their Democratic opponents. Watch their fundraising video “Liberal Madness” here.
