Leora Levy Fundraiser Announced At Trump's Mar-A-Lago Club: Report

CONNECTICUT — U.S. Senate Republican candidate Leora Levy is hosting a fundraiser at former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, Oct. 18.

The fundraiser, first reported on Kevin Rennie's Daily Ructions blog, is being co-hosted with the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Tickets start at $1,000 and go up to $25,000. The top ticket gets a photo with Trump.

Levy bested party-endorsed moderate opponent Themis Klarides by a 10 percentage point margin in the August primary. Trump endorsed her in the week leading up to the election. He also took the opportunity to criticize incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Levy is a retired financial trader and more recently a political fundraiser for the GOP. Trump nominated her to be the ambassador to Chile, but the Senate never confirmed her.

Incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal led Levy 57-40 percent in a September Quinnipiac University poll.

The same poll found that 29 percent of likely Connecticut voters said one reason for their vote would be to express opposition to Trump. Another 10 percent said one reason for their vote would be to support Trump.

Blumenthal also leads Levy in the fundraising battle. The two-term incumbent had $8.3 million cash on hand as of June 30, which is the most recent Federal Elections Commission filing. Levy had about $286,000 on hand as of Sept. 6.