Katzenberg targeting McConnell in 2014

Top Democratic Hollywood fundraiser Jeffrey Katzenberg is reportedly targeting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the 2014 midterm elections and organizing events in Los Angeles to benefit the Senate minority leader’s Democratic opponent, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. 

{mosads}The DreamWorks Animation chief executive, who helped raise millions of dollars to reelect President Obama, has decided to focus his efforts on the Kentucky Senate race, according to Democratic sources who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

On Tuesday, Katzenberg sent out a letter urging Democratic donors to support Grimes during a two-day fundraising visit to Los Angeles later this month with individual donations of $5,200 and $10,000 per couple, according to THR.

“Alison is the antidote to McConnell and all he represents,” Katzenberg wrote in the letter, which was obtained by THR. “She can win, and she will win if she gets the support she needs.”

Grimes, 34, is a rising star in Kentucky politics who national Democrats believe may be the party’s best chance for a Senate pickup in 2014.

In the letter, Katzenberg called the Grimes-McConnell contest “a pivotal election that can get the Senate working again. … There is no more important election being held next year in this country. As the Senate’s minority leader since 2007, McConnell has used the filibuster 420 times to block legislation and appointments that were supported by a clear majority of senators. … We are talking about outright obstruction of the democratic process,” THR reported.

Obama had a private dinner with Katzenberg during a visit to Los Angeles in early August.

White House press secretary Jay Carney called Katzenberg a “longtime friend” of the president and said that the two dined in Obama’s hotel room. The president picked up the tab.

Just before the 2012 presidential election, Katzenberg hosted a dinner featuring Obama, former President Bill Clinton and a number of other top donors at his mansion in Beverly Hills.