FRANKFORT — The super PAC serving as forerunner to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s anticipated presidential campaign stepped up its fundraising in the second half of 2025 thanks in large part to a Pennsylvania physician who gave a whopping $450,000. The super PAC is called In This Together, and t he top donor over the six-month period is Ashish Patel, a doctor from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In a report filed Monday with the Internal Revenue Service, In This Together disclosed that Patel — who never before contributed to a Beshear political committee —made three contributions of $150,000 each between Aug. 1 and Dec. 16. Patel was, by far, the largest donor over the period, although several others are listed as having given $100,000: Churchill Downs, Lexington Trots Breeders Assn. (The Red Mile); Andrew Nathan Schwartzberg, a real estate developer; and a New York-based company identified as 313 West Main St Realty, which secretary of state records show owns a nursing home in Ohio County in Western Kentucky. Altogether, the Beshear super PAC reported raising nearly $2.9 million during the six-month period. That’s twice as much as it reported raising in the first half of 2025. Kentucky Democrat Andy Beshear’s super PAC steps up fundraising in its second year Beshear created In This Together soon after winning reelection as governor in 2023. The super PAC allows Beshear to keep his political operation intact as it raises money and contributes part of that money to candidates Beshear supports across the country. The PAC is a means to win friends in other states if, as most political observers expect, Beshear announces a campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. Disclosure reports filed by In This Together show that it spent nearly $800,000 during the six-month period. About $525,000 of that was for consultants, fundraisers, travel, lodging and other expenses; about $272,000 went out in contributions to support Democratic candidates and committees across the country. Eric Hyers, who managed Beshear’s campaigns for governor and oversees his ongoing political operation, ignored most questions emailed to him by the Kentucky Lantern seeking more details on the disclosures filed by the super PAC in recent days with the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. The questions sought details on two big donors Ashish Patel and 313 West Main St Realty; sought clarification on some numbers within the disclosures, and asked why Beshear draws so many big contributions from gambling interests. Hyers did give an overall assessment of In This Together’s fundraising during the period. “ITT is generating support from Kentucky and across the country because people are tired of the divisive, mean-spirited politics pitting Americans against each other. The country is exhausted,” Hyers said. “Gov. Beshear has a proven ability to win tough elections and then govern in a way that brings people together, and ITT supports people who do the same.” Here’s a closer look at the contributions and spending. The biggest donors Patel is identified in In This Together’s report to the IRS as an employee of Reading Hospital. Online contributor databases indicate he is a regular donor to Democrats. The watchdog group Virginia Access Project’s database shows Patel gave $100,000 to Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s successful campaign for governor of Virginia last year.  Databases of the FEC and the watchdog group Open Secrets show 26 other contributions by Patel totaling $120,000 since 2019. The donor list disclosed by In This Together did not list the address or other identifying information for an entity listed simply as 313 West Main St Realty LLC, which gave $100,000. Records of the Kentucky secretary of state say this business provides “health services” in Ohio County, is owned by Richard Platschek and has its principal office in Brooklyn, New York.  Platschek previously has made small contributions to Beshear’s 2023 campaign, to the Kentucky Senate’s Republican caucus and to the PAC of the association for Kentucky’s nursing home owners. Schwartzberg is a wealthy developer who specializes in affordable housing. And his $100,000 donation late last year brings the total he has given to Beshear’s super PAC to $575,000. He is the largest donor to the Beshear super PAC since it was formed two years ago. The list of donors also shows that the racing/gambling industry continues to be a significant supporter of Beshear political committees. In addition to Churchill Downs and The Red Mile each giving $100,000, ECL Entertainment, of Las Vegas, gave $35,000. ECL runs Kentucky Downs racetrack in Franklin. And all three tracks operate lucrative gambling halls where bettors wager on historical racing machines and make sports bets. Who got the donations In This Together reported making about $272,000 in contributions to other candidates and committees across the county during the six months. The largest contribution was $40,000 to the campaign of Spanberger, Virginia’s new governor. The committee gave 32 other smaller contributions. Among them were $25,000 each to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and an Arizona PAC called Copper State Values and $20,000 to the Democratic Party of South Carolina. In a key presidential primary state, In This Together gave $5,000 each to the New Hampshire Democratic Party, the New Hampshire House Democratic Victory Committee and the campaign of Democrat Chris Pappas who is running for the U.S. Senate. And it made two contributions to candidates within Kentucky: $2,200 to the campaign of Will Moynahan for judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals and $2,000 to Democratic state Rep. Erika Hancock, of Frankfort. In This Together’s recent reports show large expenses for strategic consulting, fundraising consulting, digital consulting and other administrative costs. It also reports numerous airfare and travel costs associated with travel across the country to  raise money and spread Beshear’s name. (Lodging expenses listed show stays in hotels in Las Vegas; San Francisco; Chicago; New York, Southern California and Charleston, South Carolina.) Other big donors Other than those listed above, here are other big donors to In this Together during the last half of 2025: Door Dash Inc., San Francisco, $50,000 Peter Morton, West Hollywood, California, $50,000 Jim Beam Brands, Louisville, $50,000 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Washington, D.C.,  $50,000 The Bipartisan Network, Washington, D.C., $50,000 Rachna Gandhi, Irving, Texas, owner of MDofficeManager, $50,000 Lisa Lourie, Wellington, Florida, owner of Spy Coast Farm and regular big donor to Beshear, $50,000 Robert Friedman, Santa Monica, California, partner in YF Properties, $50,000 Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee, Washington, D.C., $50,000 Plumbers Pipefitters Local 502, Louisville, $50,000 William P. Butler, Covington, CEO of Corporex, $35,000 William and Barbara Young, Lexington, W.T. Young LLC, $30,000 Nachiketa Bhatt, Prospect, $25,000 C.J. May, Lexington, May Commercial Group Inc., $25,000 Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, $25,000 Shannon Collins, Pine Top, professor at Kentucky Community and Technical College System, $25,000 Misdee Wrigley Miller, Sarasota, Florida, Hillcroft Farm, $25,000 Committee to Expand the Middle Class, San Rafael, California, $25,000 The post Beshear super PAC gets $450K from Pennsylvania doctor appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less