The sign outside the Frankfort headquarters of the Republican Party of Kentucky. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Tom Loftus)

FRANKFORT — Churchill Downs contributed $100,000 and The Jockey Club gave $50,000 earlier this year to the Republican Party of Kentucky’s fund drive to renovate and expand its party headquarters in Frankfort.

The two recent contributions are listed in a report that the RPK’s Building Fund filed this week with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.?

Counting the two recent contributions, the fund drive has raised $2.9 million from 12 special interest donors since fundraising began in late 2022. The largest of the contributions was $1 million given by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. in late 2022.

Churchill Downs Inc., best known for its Louisville racetrack, is a publicly traded company that owns and operates gambling venues across the country.?The Jockey Club, established in 1894, promotes Thoroughbred racing and breeding? and maintains the North American Thoroughbred registry.

State and federal campaign finance laws limit to $15,000 the amount any person can give to either political party executive committee, and corporation contributions are forbidden. But a law passed by the 2017 Kentucky General Assembly allowed each party to create a building fund which can accept contributions of unlimited amounts from people or corporations.

In response to a question about the large special interest contributions from special interests, RPK Executive Director Sarah Van Wallaghen released a statement that said the building fund fundraising effort complies with “both federal and state law.” She also said money given to the building fund can only be used for construction and maintenance of the headquarters and can not be used for candidate or issue advocacy.

The RPK’s headquarters is in a house on Capital Avenue about four blocks from the Kentucky Capitol. A sign identifies it as the “Mitch McConnell Building,” named for Kentucky’s longest serving U.S. senator, Republican Mitch McConnell, who also is the longest serving party leader in Senate history and famous for his success in raising money for his and others’ campaigns.

The report filed this week indicates that design work for the project is underway. The report lists $61,587 in expenses paid this year to Stengel-Hill Architecture Inc., of Louisville, for architectural fees and a survey.

Van Wallaghen said the party hopes to have drawings completed for the proposed new headquarters within the next two months and for construction to begin before the end of the year.

The building fund’s recent report also lists $10,000 in payments to Haney Consulting, the company of McConnell’s longtime chief fundraiser Laura Haney. These payments bring to $85,000 the amount the building fund has paid to Haney Consulting for its help in generating the 12 contributions.

The Kentucky Democratic Party’s building fund this week reported minimal activity during the first quarter of 2024 — less than $1,000 in expenses and less than $1,000 in receipts. However, it did report a balance of $327,578 in cash on hand as of March 31.

Here’s a complete list of the donors to the Republican Party of Kentucky Building Fund’s project to renovate and expand the Mitch McConnell Building: