Debbie Lesko, Paul Ryan to hold DC fundraiser ahead of special election
Apr 18, 2018, 2:34 PM | Updated: 8:33 pm
(Flickr/Gage Skidmore)
PHOENIX — U.S. House of Representatives candidate and former Arizona state Sen. Debbie Lesko was getting a helping hand from a big-name Republican.
Lesko will hold a fundraiser with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Wednesday, according to CNBC.
The event will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Fees to enter the event will run as high as $2,500 and were expected to go to the campaign. The event was expected to rack up $75,000 total for the campaign.
The event will come with less than a week to go until a special general election to fill the Phoenix-area seat.
Congressional District 8, which encompasses several suburbs in the north and west side of Phoenix, was a heavily-Republican district that President Donald Trump won by 21 points in 2016.
But the polls have been mixed in the days leading up to the election: Emerson College had Tipirneni leading Lesko 46 percent to 45 percent, while a OH Predictive Insights/ABC15 poll showed that Lesko was 10 points ahead of Tipirneni.
However, Republicans were not leaving anything to chance, spending about $700,000 to support Lesko.
According to campaign filings, Lesko raised $367,000 in the first quarter of 2018, while Tipirneni brought in $434,000.
The seat was left vacant in December, after former Rep. Trent Franks resigned when he discussed surrogacy with at least two staffers.