After several weeks of sluggish cash flow, Joe Biden—the current front-runner in the Democratic primary—is set to appear at three different fundraisers this November, which will include real estate moguls, a health insurance industry executive, an art collector-turned-philanthropist and Amazon’s Senior Vice President.
The first fundraiser, which has not been announced to the public, will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Nov. 5. The event’s co-chairs are Jack B. Piatt and Pat Nardelli, heads of the Pittsburgh-based real estate developers Millcraft Investors and Castlebrook Development Group, respectively.
As “co-chairs,” both Piatt and Nardelli will each help to raise $25,000.
Other members of Pittsburgh’s elite will also be there. Co-hosting the event will be Douglas A. Campbell, co-founder of law firm Campbell & Levine; Cliff Levine, director of law firm Cohen & Grigsby; Tom Van Kirk, Executive Vice President of Highmark, a healthcare company; former Democratic House candidate Ray Linsenmayer and real estate attorney Dusty Kirk of Reed Smith LLP.
The co-hosts are expected to raise a total of $15,000 each.
Less than two weeks after this fundraiser, the Biden campaign will head to Seattle, Washington, where the first of two fundraisers will take place during the afternoon of Nov. 15.
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According to The Seattle Times, the first reception will be held in the affluent neighborhood of Madison Park, which will be hosted by Seattle philanthropist Janet Wright Ketcham. Tickets for the event will range in prices between $1,000 and $2,800 according to an invitation.
The second fundraiser will take place that same evening at the residence of David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President of Amazon. Admission starts at $2,800 per person and both fundraisers are each aimed at netting $25,000 to go toward Biden’s campaign.
Despite his promise at the start of his campaign to reject funding from lobbyists and corporate executives, the former vice president has done the exact opposite, pulling in an estimated $200,000 from major lobbying firms and meeting with a fossil fuel exec. Recently, Biden’s campaign has announced that the candidate is no longer opposed to the idea of supporters forming a super-PAC in order to donate unlimited sums of money to his cause.
In an effort to combat the highly successful fundraising efforts of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, the possibility of a last-ditch super-PAC looks to be a Hail Mary for Biden’s candidacy.
“In this time of crisis in our politics, it is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency. Nothing changes unless we defeat Donald Trump,” remarked deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield in a statement released by the campaign.
Quinton Bradley
Contributing Writer
Quinton Bradley is an Ohio-based writer. He runs a blog called Hammers and Papyrus and can be followed on Twitter @QBAbstract.