Hollywood donors to host fundraiser for Lundergan Grimes

Hollywood megadonor and DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is co-hosting a fundraiser for Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes on Monday night, his second such effort on behalf of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) likely opponent.

{mosads}The fundraiser will take place at the home of Steve Lafferty, head of the talent agency Creative Artists Agency, and will be co-hosted by a raft of major Hollywood players, ranging from “Halloween” star Nancy Stephens to Warner Bros. executive Greg Silverman, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported news of the fundraiser.

During Lundergan Grimes’s last swing through the Los Angeles area, Katzenberg raised $1 million for the candidate, who’s running in a race he’s flagged as a personal top priority.

In an email to other Hollywood donors drumming up support for the Democrat last year, Katzenberg called the Kentucky Senate race “a pivotal election that can get the Senate working again.”

Republicans see the Hollywood help as evidence Lundergan Grimes is out of touch with Kentucky, however, and Kentucky GOP spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper said in an email that the support means she’ll be beholden to liberal interests if she’s elected.

“While Alison Lundergan Grimes may try and tell Kentuckians that she’ll fight for them and their values if elected to the senate, there is no denying that she is supported and financially backed by some of the country and Hollywood’s most liberal political activists and donors – individuals that enthusiastically support policies like Obamacare, President Obama and Harry Reid’s war on coal, and gun control legislation … the policies many Kentuckians oppose,” she said.

But Lundergan Grimes’ campaign spokeswoman Charly Norton suggested in response McConnell is, in fact, the candidate in the race out-of-touch with Kentucky.

“No matter how many millions of Wall Street and Washington lobbyist money Mitch McConnell is willing to burn, he remains as popular in Kentucky as Duke University. Alison looks forward to sharing her vision with Kentuckians who long for a Senator who will fight for them and not play McConnell’s self-serving, Washington games,” she said.

Later this week, Lundergan Grimes will be back in the Bluegrass State to deliver a policy speech and “share her vision for Eastern Kentucky,” according to her campaign. 

–This piece was updated at 4:30 p.m. to reflect comment from Lundergan Grimes’ campaign.