By Tom Loftus
Kentucky Lantern
The Republican Party of Kentucky Building Fund raised another $314,750 in the past three months for its project to expand its state headquarters known as the “Mitch McConnell Building.”
This brings the total raised for the project to more than $3.2 million, with the vast majority of that coming in large contributions from big corporations with lobbying interests in Washington and Frankfort.
The building fund reported to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance this week that its donors during the quarter ending June 30 were: alcoholic beverage producer Beam Suntory, of New York, $100,000; AT&T, of St. Louis, $100,000; Keeneland, of Lexington, $50,000; Barbara R. Banke Revocable Trust, of Geyserville, California, $50,000; National Thoroughbred Racing Association., of Lexington, $12,500.
Also, three prominent Frankfort lobbyists – John McCarthy, Patrick Jennings and Collin Johnson – are listed as donating $750 each.
In the spring the party released its plans to build a 6,800-square-foot building on a vacant lot adjacent to — and connected to — its current headquarters at the corner of Third Street and Capital Avenue in Frankfort. The party plans to begin construction later this year.
The state Republican headquarters is named in honor of Kentucky’s longest-serving U.S. senator, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Largest donors to the Republican Party of Kentucky Building Fund since late 2022
• Pfizer Inc., New York: $1,000,000
• NOW Resources, Greenwood Village, CO: $500,000
• AT&T, St. Louis: $300,000
• Verizon, Washington, DC: $300,000
• Metropolitan Life Insurance, New York: $300,000
• Boeing Company PAC, Arlington, VA: $100,000
• Beam Suntory, New York: $100,000
• Churchill Downs., Louisville: $100,000
• Altria (Philip Morris USA), Richmond, VA: $100,000
• Microsoft Corporation, Reno: $100,000
• Comcast Corporation, Philadelphia: $100,000
• Keeneland, Lexington: $50,000
• Delta Air Lines, Atlanta: $50,000
• Jockey Club, New York: $50,000
• Barbara Banke Revocable Trust, Geyserville, CA: $50,000
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