Vance to headline two RNC fundraisers in Texas

Details: The dinner invitation asks couples who want to be part of the host committee to ante up $250,000.

• Vance, the RNC's finance chair, will headline a fundraiser the following day in Dallas and then in Nashville on March 30, per the Financial Times.

Follow the money: Lonsdale, managing partner of venture capital firm 8VC, in 2024 helped establish America PAC, a super PAC aimed at supporting the Trump campaign.

• America PAC was a major vehicle for Lonsdale ally Elon Musk to plow tens of millions of dollars into the Trump campaign. The PAC spent roughly $200 million to aid President Trump.
• Lonsdale himself has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars this election cycle to Republican candidates, per Federal Election Commission data.

Between the lines: High-dollar GOP fundraisers in Texas in recent years typically have occurred in Houston, Dallas or areas with strong Republican support. But liberal Austin is also home to billionaires and influencers who have backed GOP candidates.

The intrigue: Trump has been asking his advisers whether they favor Vance or U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to be the next Republican presidential nominee.

• The president favors Vance, a Trump adviser told Axios, but he has also been effusive in his praise for Rubio, for his rising profile as secretary of state and national security adviser.

What they're saying: Lonsdale, Vance's office and the RNC did not immediately return Axios requests for comment.