SAN JOSE, Calif. — Kickstarting a bid to surpass his $1 billion fundraising haul from the 2020 election, President Joe Biden is expected to come to Los Gatos and Atherton on Monday for reelection fundraisers co-hosted by longtime Democratic supporters and Silicon Valley luminaries.
At about the same time, GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to get within a few miles of his Democratic rival. DeSantis will be attending a fundraising brunch in Sacramento Monday morning, the same place he recently sent three dozen migrants as part of his ongoing publicity campaign against illegal immigration, and he is also expected later Monday to attend another fundraiser in Woodside.
Just up Interstate 280 in Atherton, Biden will be the guest of venture capitalist and former state controller Steve Westly and his wife, Anita Yu. Tickets for the reception at their home start at $6,600, according to an emailed invitation acquired by the Bay Area News Group.
In Los Gatos, Biden supporter and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, along with Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott and his wife Shannon Hunt-Scott, will be co-hosting another fundraiser for Biden, according to Reuters.
On Tuesday, a third reception in Marin County will be held for Biden by eight tech, climate and private equity entrepreneurs and investors, including Dan Kalafatas, Hadley Mullin, Steve Silberstein and Mark Robinson. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to attend.
Because California is overwhelmingly Democratic and easily voted for Biden over Trump in 2020, Biden needs California especially for its wealthy donors to take on what may well be a rematch with former President Donald Trump, who is the GOP’s front-runner despite his recent federal indictment over hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“Donald Trump reportedly has raised more than $6 million since being indicted – he specifically is soliciting based on having been indicted,” said Bill James, chairman of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. “So President Biden and his campaign team have to keep up with that fundraising to be able to get their message out.”
In 2020, Biden was the first campaign in history to raise more than $1 billion. More than $700 million came from grass-roots online donations, according to the Biden campaign.
