Texas Gov. Greg Abbott found a receptive audience in Newport Beach on March 1, speaking to an event hosted by the Republican-backed New Majority political action committee at the Lido House hotel.
It marked the second fundraising event in OC of late for Abbott, who was also in town over last year’s Fourth of July long weekend. Abbott knows SoCal well, with a daughter who attended USC.
Abbott, who had spent the prior day giving a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border to Donald Trump, made clear at the event—moderated by Lido House’s developer, R.D. Olson’s Bob Olson, a longtime backer of the governor—that he felt border security would be issue No. 1 for voters in November.
Given the security theme of his discussion, perhaps it was no surprise that two top OC execs that deal in (different kinds of) security, Anduril Industries’ Palmer Luckey and Allied Universal’s Steve Jones, were in attendance.
Also on hand were developer Ed Roski, mortgage entrepreneur Glenn Stearns, Callahan & Blaine’s Ed Susolik, Business Journal Publisher Richard Reisman, and Joe Ueberroth, who is one of Olson’s partners for the redevelopment of Dana Point Harbor.
Trump had floated Abbott the day before as “absolutely” being on his shortlist of potential running mates, but the governor told the audience—before national publications heard—that he wasn’t interested in being VP, saying his allegiance is to Texas, and keeping it red.
“If we lose Texas, we lose the U.S.,” he said.
A trio of OC residents made the cut for trade publication’s The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50, a listing that came out this month highlighting the top donors in the country for 2023.
Dale and Sarah Fowler ranked No. 37 on the list, with $55.3M given to educational causes.
While real estate developer Dale Fowler’s name adorns the law school of Chapman University, where he graduated, the Newport Beach-based couple’s giving was directed outside OC last year, according to the list.
Riverside’s California Baptist University received $28.5M, the largest gift in the school’s 73-year history, and another Christian-focused school, Massachusetts’ Gordon College, got another $26.5M from the Fowlers.
Grandchildren of the Fowlers have gone to both schools.
Newport Beach investor Richard Pickup ranked No. 40 on the list, thanks to his $50M gift last year to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
The gift will establish the Richard H. Pickup Center for Brain Health with a “whole-family, comprehensive approach” to prevention, detection and integrative care for cognitive impairment and mental health disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Richard Pickup’s gift to Hoag ranked No. 2 on last month’s Business Journal list of Largest Charitable Gifts of 2023, behind the $100M gift of Panda Express’ Peggy and Andrew Cherng to City of Hope.
Those funds, from the Cherng’s family foundation, are directed toward City of Hope’s campuses in both OC and LA. The $100M gift didn’t make the list of the Philanthropy 50, which detailed $11.9B in giving last year.
Among Southern Californians, one LA-based entry made this month’s Chronicle of Philanthropy listing, three were from San Diego, and another three from Santa Barbara made the cut, too.
