JD Vance Heads to Nantucket for Private $250,000 Per Couple Event, As Democratic Governor Hosts Less Expensive Dinner

Stacy Garrity, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and pro-Trump Republican, complained on social media that Governor Josh Shapiro recently traveled to Nantucket for a weekend fundraising event, where guests reportedly paid $10,000 each to attend.

Skewering Shapiro as a figure beholden to the elite, Garrity wrote that while the PA Governor visited the well-to-do Massachusetts vacation spot, “the rest of us are in Pennsylvania—juggling bills and buying back-to-school supplies, not steak and wine on the Cape.” (Note: It’s widely believed Garrity may run for Governor in 2026.)

Yet as political slings and arrows go, the reality is that both sides of the aisle court wealthy donors — wherever they are. To wit, Nantucket is also the locale for a Republican National Committee fundraising event on Tuesday of this week, where Vice President JD Vance is the main attraction.

According to The Nantucket Current, “Attendees will pay $250,000 per couple to join the host committee, or $100,000 per couple to join Vance for dinner at the event, which is being hosted at a private residence.”

Conservative political pundit Mark Halperin noted: “Even by the standards of Nantucket, this is an expensive dinner w/@JDVance for the @GOP.”

The idea that Vance is a national figure and Shapiro left his state to raise funds goes only so far in justifying Garrity’s criticism. The Current noted that the last time Vance was on Nantucket, he was a Senate candidate for Ohio in 2022. (Tickets for that event for $2,500.)

Bob Reynolds, President and CEO of Putnam Investments, and his wife Laura, are the hosts of the Vance dinner with Dave Kelsey and Ozzie Palomo, co-founder of Chartwell Strategy Group. Palomo was previously connected with the presidential campaign of former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.