RNC Host Committee raises $85 million for Milwaukee convention, exceeding goal

With just days until the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the event’s host committee said it had raised more than $85 million — a figure well over its initial fundraising goal.

The committee declined to provide an exact sum of the money it raised but said Thursday the estimate “represents a record amount raised by any Host Committee for a Republican convention in history.” Republicans on the panel initially hoped to bring in roughly $70 million for the nominating convention in Milwaukee next week.

Exact details of the host committee’s fundraising and expenditures will not be released until after the event, set for July 15-18. Host committee chairman Reince Priebus in a statement said only that “local organizations in Wisconsin have played an integral role in supporting” the effort.

“The outpouring of support for this convention has been bigger than I ever imagined, and I’m proud of the work that the Host Committee did to reach this historic milestone,” Priebus said. “This is money that is going to be injected into our community to help throw this event.”

Convention costs, the committee projected last year, could range anywhere from $89 million to $154 million.

The roughly $85 million estimate announced Thursday is nearly identical to that raised by Democrats’ host committee in Chicago. The DNC earlier this month was reported to have secured “the vast majority” of its $85 million fundraising goal.

Among the local sponsors of the Milwaukee host committee are Visit Milwaukee, the city’s 3rd St. Market Hall and the Wisconsin Realtors Association. Other sponsors include national conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, the Washington-based think tank responsible for Project 2025, a policy proposal for a future Republican administration from which former President Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself.

Companies who donated to the Milwaukee convention this year largely declined to say how much they contributed when contacted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Officials for a number of groups stressed that they tended to treat Republican and Democratic conventions equally.

A spokesperson for Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual, for example, told the Journal Sentinel the company was supporting the 2024 Republican host committee just as it did with Democrats for their 2020 virtual convention in Milwaukee, when Northwestern contributed more than $1.3 million.

“Our support is about the local economic impact and Milwaukee’s growing opportunity to host large conventions as a city,” the Northwestern spokesperson said, stressing the RNC host committee’s status as non-partisan and separate from the partisan Republican National Committee.

Molson Coors, the Chicago-based brewing company that produces Milwaukee’s famous Miller brand, similarly declined to share how much the company donated to the Milwaukee host committee but told the Journal Sentinel it gave “the same figure” to both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 2024.

"We have a long history of donating to the nonpartisan, nonprofit convention host committees when a party convention is held in our hometowns, and we’re doing so in Milwaukee and Chicago this year,” said Adam Collins, the chief communications officer for Molson Coors.

The Milwaukee Brewers told the Journal Sentinel this week that they “contributed in similar ways” to the 2024 RNC as they did with the 2020 DNC, when they donated $500,000 to the host committee.

“We have historically supported and will continue to support a vast number of events and initiatives that are designed to enhance tourism and economic development in our region,” said Rick Schlesinger, president of business operations for the Brewers.

Top donors to the convention in Milwaukee receive special access to events, dinners and top party officials throughout the week — with the most exclusive perks going to the multi-million dollar donors.

Thursday’s $85 million-plus estimated total far outpaces Republican fundraising for the last full-scale Republican convention in 2016 and nearly doubles that of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic scuttled convention plans.

Republicans’ 2016 Cleveland host committee brought in roughly $66 million. The party’s host committee in 2020 raised about $44 million for its Charlotte convention.

The host committee funds are separate from the $75 million in federal grant money both Milwaukee and Chicago are expected to receive to help cover security costs of the events. Convention cities have historically received about $50 million in federal security grant money, but Congress this year approved a $25 million bump to those funds.

The committee’s fundraising this year, the group said, “will pay for major venues, transportation, welcome party, closing party and other large contract expenses associated with hosting the convention in Milwaukee.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: RNC Host committee raises $85 million for Milwaukee convention