Prominent MAGA figures, such as Zach Witkoff and Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead a birthday fundraiser on Thursday for Republican Senate candidate for Kentucky, Nate Morris, who has pitched himself as a pro-Trump businessman.
Morris’s 45th birthday party fundraising event will be hosted by Zach Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East’s son, Steve Witkoff, and Zach Witkoff’s wife, Sophi Knight, according to a campaign-verified flyer obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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The event comes as the three Republican candidates running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in 2026 have ostensibly vied for a coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump since the launch of their respective campaigns. The three candidates — front-runner and former Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and Morris — each have ties to McConnell but have distanced themselves from the retiring Kentucky GOP titan, who has frequently been in Trump’s crosshairs.
Morris, a former intern of McConnell, said he is running for Senate to ensure Kentuckians “don’t have another Mitch McConnell puppet sabotaging the Trump agenda,” according to his website. In distancing himself from the second-longest serving senator and campaigning as a political outsider, Morris earned the endorsements of Ramaswamy, the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN).
Morris, who first announced his run on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast, now has the support of the Witkoff name behind him with this event. The fundraiser will be held at the Witkoff Family Farm in Lexington at around 6 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets cost $500 per person, $250 for young professionals, and between $2,500-$3,500 to be listed as a host.
The flyer lists Ramaswamy as a special guest and lists over 60 people as co-hosts. The hosts include several national conservative advocates, businesspeople, and former Bush administration officials, according to the Lexington-Herald Leader. Republican Chris LaCivita Jr., the son of Trump’s former presidential campaign adviser, is also a host of the event.
Morris has consistently polled far behind the other two main Republican candidates in the race, Cameron and Barr. The limited polling at this point in the race has shown Cameron typically leading by double digits, with Barr slightly behind and Morris trailing in the single digits.
A September poll tied to the pro-Barr Keep America Great PAC listed Cameron in the lead with support from 37% of likely Kentucky Republican voters, Barr at 29%, and Morris at 8%. An October poll commissioned by the Cameron campaign showed Cameron at 39%, Barr at 22%, and Morris at 8%.
Trump hasn’t made any moves to endorse any candidates in the race to fill McConnell’s seat, though he has weighed in on other 2026 primary races, swiftly backing Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) in the Florida gubernatorial election.
MITCH MCCONNELL IS RETIRING. ESTABLISHMENT DONORS HAVE DECIDED WHO THEY DON’T WANT REPLACING HIM
Ramaswamy is running as the Trump-backed candidate in Ohio’s 2026 governor race. Ramaswamy has also stumped for Virginia’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who has yet to receive a full-fledged Trump endorsement in her 2025 contest against former Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
Kentucky voters still have months to decide their votes in the GOP Senate primary, set for May 19, 2026. The general election will be held on Nov. 3, 2026.