Marco Rubio’s Capitol Hill fundraiser to draw wave of new supporters

Taking advantage of a surge in popularity after several strong Republican Party debate appearances, Marco Rubio expects to draw a new crop of supporters with a Capitol Hill fundraiser Monday.

As reported by Alex Isenstadt of POLITICO, the event invitation names about 70 financial backers for the Florida senator’s presidential campaign — more than half came on board after Rubio’s debate performance in Boulder, supporters say.

Originally, the event was to be held at a town house in Washington D.C., but as the guest list began to swell, Isenstadt writes that organizers moved the reception to the prestigious Capitol Hill Club.

Names on the invitation include several names new to the campaign: Verizon lobbyist Peter Davidson; NextEra Energy lobbyist Christopher Chapel; Crossroads Strategies lobbyist Matthew Lapinski and Russ Thomasson, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

Also scheduled to appear are a number of House members, such as U.S. Reps. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Darren LaHood of Illinois Austin Scott of Georgia and Todd Rokita of Indiana.

Isenstadt notes that this new push for hard dollars comes after Rubio recently won the support of billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, a leading Republican bundler.