President Biden began fundraising efforts Friday in California and Washington state, courting some elite donors with a series of campaign events hosted by wealthy backers.
Biden is planning two campaign receptions in the San Francisco suburbs on Friday, one at the Portola Valley home of Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla, and a second shortly after in Palo Alto at his former Yahoo! It was hosted by Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer. . Tickets to the fundraiser hosted by Khosla were on sale for between $6,600 and $100,000 each, Pack reported.
Mr. Khosla has been a vocal supporter of Mr. Biden and has donated heavily to the Democratic Party during the current campaign. Mr. Biden is scheduled to make two more Seattle-area appearances on Friday night and Saturday, and an invitation sent out by the Biden campaign for Saturday's event lists executives from Microsoft and Amazon among the organizers. ing.
The visit comes as the Biden campaign seeks to assert its economic advantage over former President Donald J. Trump's campaign, having recently launched a $14 million ad buy this month targeting Black and Latino voters in a number of battleground states. It was held during the announcement.
Trump faces a growing financial disadvantage and has pursued wealthy donors more aggressively in recent weeks, making increasingly explicit overtures to them. At a gathering of oil executives hosted last month by oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm, Trump promised to roll back environmental regulations on the oil industry while encouraging them to donate $1 billion to his presidential campaign.
Another dinner hosted by billionaire John Paulson in April also attracted many billionaires and netted more than $50 million for the Trump campaign.
This weekend's trip, where Mr. Biden was not scheduled to make any public appearances, was the latest chance to drum up support in some of the West Coast's wealthiest and most Democratic areas. Biden made a similar trip to California in February, stopping in Santa Monica and Mountain View and attending events hosted by Hollywood heavyweights including Haim Saban.
According to data from the Federal Election Commission, California far exceeded any other state in donations to the Biden campaign, with California donors alone raising nearly $21 million through March.