Though he hasn’t officially declared his bid for president of the United States, Mitt Romney is already gaining ground in fundraising. On Tuesday, Romney visited the First Coast for a fundraiser that brought in $300,000.
The event, which was not open to the public, was held at Ever Bank Field — the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the same venue that hosted Romney last year, when he was announced as “hopefully” the next president of the United States.
The Florida Times-Union got its hands on an invite for the fundraiser, which was co-chaired by state Sen. John Thrasher, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, and Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton. Among those on the event’s “state finance committee” are recent mayoral candidate Rick Mullaney and Mike Hightower, a Blue-Cross exec with powerful ties in the Sunshine State. Hightower is known around Jacksonville for being a political mover and shaker and is close with former Gov. Jeb Bush, who was at one time rumored to be vying for the Oval Office.
Bush lent his support to candidate Tim Pawlenty (who has also spent time in Florida this week) via Twitter yesterday, tweeting: “I admire truth-telling and t-paw sure did it to open his campaign.”
