President Biden is planning a swing through Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area later this month to raise money for what is almost assured to be a rematch against former President Trump in the November election.
California already has been a popular fundraising destination for Biden, given the state is a Democratic stronghold and offers wellsprings of financial support in Silicon Valley and the Los Angeles entertainment industry.
The upcoming trip will take him to the Los Altos Hills home of Robert and Danielle Klein on Feb. 22, sources familiar with the matter told The Times. The Kleins will co-host the event alongside investor and former State Controller Steve Westly. Two other possible fundraisers in the San Francisco area are in the planning stages, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss events that hadn’t been publicized.
Another source who asked not to be named told The Times that Biden will be in Los Angeles on Feb. 20 for a fundraiser at the home of media mogul and longtime Democratic donor Haim Saban.
The sources cautioned that the timing of these fundraisers could change depending on Biden’s schedule.
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A spokesman for the Biden campaign declined to comment.
The campaign and its affiliated entities reported last month that they had raised $235 million from April 2023 through the end of last year. After a string of record-breaking fundraising months, the campaign had $117 million in cash on hand, according to federal campaign finance disclosures.
On Saturday, the president visited Los Angeles and held campaign-related meetings at the Bel-Air estate of director George Lucas. First Lady Jill Biden spoke late that night at a gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood in support of a nonprofit that asks retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.
Biden had lunch the following day at the Ivy with his son Hunter and grandson Beau. Hunter Biden lives in Malibu and it was his 54th birthday.
The president and his surrogates, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom, held multiple fundraisers for the campaign in California last year. In the fall, after the writers and actors strikes ended, Biden and the first lady made a weekend trip to Los Angeles, raising more than $15 million at several events.
As they could at those events, each supporter this month will be able to give up to $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that supports the president’s reelection campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state-level Democratic parties.
Last September, Biden held three fundraising events in Atherton and San Francisco that were hosted by Democratic donors and philanthropists Liz Simons and Mark Heising, and another one hosted by former presidential candidate Tom Steyer.
Those hosting events for Biden are all longtime donors to Democratic causes and candidates.
Robert Klein, who runs a multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, is best known for his advocacy for stem cell research. About 20 years ago he bankrolled a state ballot referendum to fund and protect stem cell research. He and his wife donated about $100,000 to Biden’s campaign and its affiliated entities last year.
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
