Brewery

An email from Andrew Bishop, an owner of Lexington's Ethereal Brewing, has drawn scrutiny over campaign finance rules after it circulated online ahead of a Sept. 23 fundraiser for Republican state Rep. Jason Petrie, chair of the Kentucky House budget committee. In the email, Bishop described an in-kind donation of food, beverages, and rental fees and asked recipients to reimburse the brewery via check, Venmo, or CashApp, writing that the arrangement would mean "no one will have to worry about campaign disclosures or names being associated with this donation."

Bishop later said the email was "poorly worded" and that the actual in-kind contribution totaled about $1,134, fully disclosed under the law. Ethereal Brewing issued a public apology, calling the event a candidate-sponsored fundraiser held at its venue, not a company event. The Republican Party of Kentucky said it did not host or know about the email. John Steffen of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance said the described reimbursement scheme could violate laws barring corporate contributions and disguised in-kind donations if it occurred as written, though no investigation has been confirmed. Petrie has not commented.