Romney lines up big Baton Rouge fundraiser

Published Jul 11, 2012 at 10:15 am (Updated Jul 11, 2012)

High-rolling Republicans will shell out $50,000 a plate to have lunch with Mitt Romney next week. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is scheduled to come Monday to Baton Rouge for a fundraiser luncheon at the City Club of Baton Rouge. GOP activist and Lockport businessman Boysie Bollinger, who helped arrange the event, expects at least two dozen supporters from around the state to attend, though he has not seen a final list and won't say who is already confirmed. "This came together relatively quickly—in the past two weeks," says Bollinger, who was with Romney last month in Park City, Utah. "We were talking about dates when he might be able to come down, and he offered to do it next week." This will be Romney's second campaign visit to Louisiana; earlier this year, he attended a fundraiser in Shreveport. Since that event was during the heart of the primary campaign, however, contributions were limited to $2,500. Now that Romney is the presumptive nominee, supporters can give to the Republican National Committee's presidential trust, which doesn't have such limits. Bollinger says he is optimistic about what appears to be Romney's growing momentum in the campaign. "He raised more than $100 million in June and [President Barack] Obama only raised $70 million," Bollinger says. "That's momentum—at least on the financial front." —Stephanie Riegel