Getting a ticket to Lady Gaga’s Thursday night concert at the Verizon Center is no easy task. The event sold out weeks ago, and tickets are being scalped on Craigslist for several hundred dollars. But there is another way to get into the show: Donate to Sen. Tom Harkin’s re-election campaign.

Turns out Harkin is cooler than he seems. The Iowa Democrat is hosting a fundraiser at the concert this week. For $1,000, individuals get one ticket and access to a VIP reception, while political action committees must pay $1,500 for one ticket and access to the reception.

While Harkin can get people into the event, even he isn’t a big enough deal to hang out with Gaga herself.

“He has not met her personally and cannot get you backstage, in case you were wondering,” a source in Harkin’s office says.