TAMPA — The Republican ticket visited Tampa on Tuesday to shore up two areas where they still trail in the presidential race: fundraising and standing among the Hispanic community.

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, held a closed-door fundraiser at the exclusive Centre Club in the city's West Shore district. It cost $25,000 per plate, according to the campaign's invitation. The media were barred from covering his remarks.

Trump has ramped up his appeal for donations of late as he preps for a general election race where social media prowess and generous cable-news coverage can only go so far. After Tampa, he flew to Miami, where top contributors paid $100,000 to have dinner and take a picture with the real estate tycoon-turned-politician.

Attendees who left the Tampa event described Trump's remarks as humorous and similar to what he said at last week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Several prominent Tampa Bay business leaders and Republicans were listed on the invite, including former Ambassador Mel Sembler, who is the vice chairman of the Trump Victory team; St. Petersburg businessman and Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards; Outback Steakhouse co-founder Chris Sullivan; political consultant Bridget Nocco, the wife of Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco; Port Tampa Bay board chairman Steve Swindal; Les Muma, a local philanthropist and retired chairman and CEO of Fiserv Inc.; and Dean Sims of Sims Crane & Equipment.

None of them could be reached for comment by phone.

Meanwhile, Trump's newly minted running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, made a brief visit to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay's monthly luncheon, held in the same Westshore building. The event was unannounced by the campaign and unexpected by the chamber.

Pence's message about cutting red tape was generally well-received by the business-minded group, said Nathan Penha, who sits on the Hispanic chamber's board of directors. But he added that many members won't soon forget that the man at the top of the ticket generalized Mexican immigrants as "rapists" and staked his primary campaign on a promise to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

Earlier Tuesday, about 20 protesters stood outside Trump's Tampa office, some holding signs with messages such as: "Tell Trump: Latinos are not rapists and criminals."

"If it was Mr. Trump who came to speak to us, I don't know what the reception would have been," Penha said.

Hispanic voters continue to spurn Trump, in Florida and nationwide. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads Trump among non-Cuban Hispanics statewide by a margin of 61 to 26, according to a recent News 13/Bay News 9 poll. The same poll, conducted before the RNC, showed Clinton with a slight lead overall in the state; more recent surveys predict an even tighter race here.

For the second time, Trump scrapped a round table with the Hispanic community scheduled for today and instead will hold a press conference at his Doral golf course.

"The Hispanic community is very tight knit," Penha said. "We're very open and inclusive but not when you do not say the right things about an entire population of people. They're very hard working and don't like to be generalized with a couple of bad seeds."

As she walked into Trump's fundraiser, Sharon Stein, a local supporter of philanthropic arts, said Trump's sharp departure from the policies of the current administration has so far resonated with her, but she believes the tenor of his argument must change to win over undecided voters.

"He has to say to women, 'You have the best instincts of the species,' " said Stein of South Tampa. "Don't emphasize things that weren't meant to be said the way they were. That would go along way with women who were offended by some of his remarks."

A Trump protest started around 10 a.m. in front of Trump's West Tampa headquarters and included members of the local chapters of Black Lives Matter, CAIR Florida, Equality Florida, Mi Familia Vota, NAACP and LULAC 7250. Then it moved outside the Centre Club, where protesters tried — but failed — to crash his private fundraiser.

In the building's lobby, protester Kelly Benjamin said he had a man with him willing to pay $25,000 to eat with Trump — however, that person, Muslim Ali, declined to show that check to reporters.

"Let us in, we'll drop off the check have a bite to eat, shake some hands, listen to some hate-filled rage, bigotry and then we'll leave," he said.

As Democrats continue to meet in Philadelphia the next two nights, Trump will move on to events in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa. Speaking before Trump's fundraiser Tuesday, retired businesswoman and South Tampa philanthropist Maureen Cohn said she believes Trump's message will resonate even more against the backdrop of the other party's convention.

"We do need change," Cohn said. "Listening to the DNC, they're saying everything in America is wonderful, everyone is safe."

Contact Steve Contorno at scontorno@tampabay.com. Follow @scontorno.