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The campaign for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) spent at least $144,000 on a country music act, lagoon rental, and drone light show
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The campaign for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) spent at least $144,000 on its “first annual Summer of 1776″ fundraiser, according to a campaign finance report it filed last week with the Federal Election Commission.
Held at the Lago Mar Crystal Clear Lagoon in La Marque, Texas, on July 4—and billed as “epic”—the party’s entertainment included a country singer, drone light show, two DJs and a Blink-182 tribute band. Proceeds benefited the reelection campaign of the two-term congressman.
While the party occurred in the third quarter of 2021, the campaign’s financial disclosure for April through June provides an early look at just how much it costs to throw “the most patriotic party in America this Fourth of July.”
Party-related disbursements included $84,000 to Lagoon Funatics and Beach 4 Lagoon; $53,000 to Drone Light Show Company; and $7,000 to Tim Montana and the Shrednecks. (It’s unclear how much the Crenshaw campaign paid Blink-281.)
As for the amount the Summer of 1776 raised, the result seems to have been more epic than campaign expected. In June, it moved to a larger lagoon, and it kept adding ticket tiers as existing ones sold out. By July 4, only general admission tickets remained, as Forbes’ Checks & Imbalances reported previously. Tickets in the sold-out tiers ranged from $75 clubhouse tables to $5,000 cabana rentals. All told, Crenshaw’s campaign raised more than $2.5 million last quarter.
A video recap of the epic party can be seen on the congressman’s Instagram page.
Spokespeople for Crenshaw have not replied to Forbes’ inquiries.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) poses with a Miss Nevada and a Miss Tennessee at his epic Summer of 1776 fundraiser.
INSTAGRAM/LISA SONG SUTTON
I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the
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I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., just a couple miles from my home. When Trump won the election and refused to divest his business, I stayed on the story, starting a newsletter called 1100 Pennsylvania (named after the hotel’s address) and contributed to Vanity Fair, Politico and NBC News. I’m still interested in Trump, but I’ve broadened my focus to follow the money connected to other politicians as well—both Republicans and Democrats.