I've seen plenty of fundraisers in bars, but few political ones.
Most serious people don't like alienating a large portion of their customer base. About the only "safe" place to hold a political fundraiser in a bar is in a location where the vast majority of voters are the same party as the candidate, like Nancy Pelosi holding one in SF.
Bellvue? Yeah, I'm guessing it wasn't a huge deal. Saturday afternoons are bad enough as it is, and if you turn off the sports to hear some guy with a bird's nest on his face spout off about how wonderful it would be if we were all socialists, I'd be taking my business elsewhere. Then again, I wouldn't be real thrilled if they turned off the sports/music/whatever to hear conservatives blather on about their platform.