U.S. Senate candidate Todd Rokita, the Indiana congressman running on an anti-elite campaign theme, is holding a swanky fundraiser in California next week.

Tickets start at $1,000 and the location is an upscale San Francisco restaurant whose website asks guests to "Please mind your top hats, overcoats, & umbrellas."

An invitation to the Aug. 30 event requests contributions as high as $5,400 — the maximum allowed for federal elections — and the luncheon will be held at Wayfare Tavern, a restaurant founded in 2010 by celebrity chef Tyler Florence of Food Network fame.

Photos show wing-backed chairs and servers in black ties carrying martinis on trays. The San Francisco Chronicle describes the restaurant's vibe as "men's club meets mountain lodge" and its crowd as "Financial District workers enjoying happy hour."

The event is prompting criticism on social media, given that Rokita kicked off his Senate bid earlier this month surrounded by campaign signs with the phrase "Defeat the Elite."

"Is this how you 'Beat the Elite' @ToddRokitaIN?" asked Richmond resident Elizabeth Bell on Twitter. "Fundraising for your IN Senate seat in CA?"

Rokita's campaign defended the event as a necessity in today's political climate.

"No one can win an election to the U.S. Senate in the modern era without out-of-state fundraising," said Tim Edson, a Rokita campaign strategist. "We are happy to have donors anywhere in the country step up and help."

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The fundraiser comes after Politico disclosed an eight-page memo that Rokita provides to the aide who drive him around his district. The instructions require the aide to carry the congressman's toothbrush, bring him coffee and fend off "trackers" out to capture embarrassing videos.

The fundraiser and driving instructions threaten to undermine Rokita's line of attack against his fellow congressman, Luke Messer. The two are locked in a nasty Republican primary battle for the opportunity to challenge Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly, a top target for the GOP in next year's elections.

Rokita has attacked Messer as a member of the elite because he is the fifth-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House. Rokita's campaign also has criticized Messer's work as a lobbyist and his decision to move to a Washington, D.C. suburb.

"Todd has strong Indiana donor support and has always raised the majority of his money from individuals, unlike Luke Messer who has raised the majority of his money from D.C. special interests and Wall Street banks," Edson said Thursday.

Messer's campaign quickly shot back.

"With the news of Rokita's list of rules for chauffeurs and now this exclusive California fundraiser, maybe Congressman Rokita should change his catch phrase to 'meet the elite,'" said Jason Kneeland, a Messer campaign advisor.

It is routine for senate candidates to hold fundraisers outside their home states. Rokita's campaign was quick to point out, for example, that Messer held a fundraiser in May at the offices of Texas businessman Richard H. Collins.

Still, the fundraiser and driver instructions demonstrate the risks inherent in Rokita's anti-elitist line of attack, especially given that he is a four-term congressman who co-owns a small airplane, said Andy Downs, a political scientist at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

"There are always pitfalls in running a campaign that is not honest to who you are," he said. "You kind of have to embrace who you are, or else it comes across as false."

Fundraising events and driver instructions are typically relegated to the realm of inside baseball, but such issues can become a problem if they become too numerous, Downs said.

"You can explain each one of these away," he said. "The problem comes when you have to explain away so many. We stop listening to the explanation because we're not going to believe it anymore."

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.