A month after collecting about $2.5 million for his re-election bid, President Joe Biden returns to Chicago on Wednesday to scoop up at least another $1 million, while Vice President Kamala Harris hits the North Shore for a fundraiser May 16.
Chicago is a deep, deep well of major Democratic campaign cash.
Fundraising for the Biden re-election effort is separate from the ongoing hunt for mega donors to the Chicago Host Committee, which is aiming to raise between $90 million and $100 million for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Host committees — unlike campaigns — can take donations from companies, with the push on for giant contributions from corporations with strong ties to Chicago and Illinois.
The most valuable commodity Biden and Harris have is their time — and they will only headline a fundraiser if it’s clear the haul will be substantial.
The Wednesday fundraiser will benefit the Biden Victory Fund with a $100,000 contribution needed to be a “host”; $50,000 to be a “champion”; and $25,000 to be listed as an “advocate.” Giving at all three levels will get the donor a photo with Biden.
The Harris event is targeting female donors in the northern suburbs.
Biden was last in Chicago on April 8, for the fundraiser that yielded nearly $2.5 million hosted by Michael Sacks and his wife Cari, and Laura Ricketts and her wife Brooke. Sacks also is the top leader of the Chicago Host Committee. Ricketts is a co-owner of the Cubs and is part of the Chicago Sky ownership team. Both Sacks and Ricketts are major Democratic donors and fundraisers.
Here are the very rough and sometimes fluid guidelines when it comes to landing Biden, Harris and key surrogates:
- To get the president at an event, the expectation is the take will be at least $1.5 million. For fundraisers with excellent track records, it would be in some cases considered crass to actually ask for explicit pledges.
- For Harris, to headline, the funder should yield about $500,000.
- To have first lady Jill Biden at a fundraiser, the organizers should plan on raising about $250,000.
- To land high-profile Democratic governors, the take would have to be at least $100,000.
The co-hosts of the Wednesday reception are Jane and Bob Clark; Tom Carnahan; and Susan and Bob Wislow, according to an invitation obtained by the Sun-Times.
Clark is the founder of Clayco, the construction firm whose downtown headquarters last Wednesday was the meeting place for the new Biden-Harris Midwest finance committee. Clark, also a major backer of ex-President Barack Obama, was appointed by Biden to be the commissioner general of the 2020 Dubai expo.
The Illinois chair of the Midwest committee is Tamar Newberger, who has been, with her husband Andy Schapiro, major donors and fundraisers for Biden and Obama. Obama tapped Schapiro to be an ambassador to the Czech Republic. Obama appointed Newberger to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. The couple co-hosted a January fundraising lunch in Chicago for second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Carnahan, a leader in the wind farm power industry, comes from a famous Missouri political family. His late father Mel was a Missouri governor and his late mother Jean was a senator from that state. His sister Robin, a former Missouri secretary of state, serves in the Biden administration as the administrator of the General Services Administration.
Wislow, chief of Parkside Reality and a civic activist in Chicago, is a longtime Biden backer.
Briefing donors at that Midwest finance meeting were Sheila Nix, the campaign chief of staff for Harris — and Illinois politics veteran — and Sam Cornale, the Democratic National Committee executive director.
On Wednesday, Biden will be heading to Chicago from Racine County, in swing state Wisconsin, just over the border from Illinois. The president will deliver remarks on his “Investing in America” agenda in the morning before headlining a fundraiser. After that, he heads to Chicago, winding up the day back at the White House.
