PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — President Biden is on the road trying to use his political power to boost Democrats’ hopes in next month’s primary, which is one of the reasons why he will be coming to Oregon this weekend.
Biden is coming to raise campaign cash for Tina Kotek’s run for the governor’s seat with a private fundraiser set for Saturday morning. On top of the $500 price tag to attend the fundraiser, guests will be asked to donate $10,000 per couple to Kotek’s campaign for a meet-and-greet and photo opportunity with the president.
In a tough race against Republican Christine Drazan, the Kotek campaign wants the president to help win over undecided voters or those supporting unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.
Biden is planning to attend a gathering of Democratic campaign volunteers and will be staying in Portland overnight.
After the breakfast fundraiser, Biden will give a speech about the economy before flying out Saturday afternoon.
Oregon Senate Republicans are calling the trip “ridiculous” saying it’s to “bail out the Democrats and lecture Oregonians on the state of the economy.”
One big issue when Biden comes to town will be traffic. Trimet says starting Friday at 6 a.m., MAX and bus service will be disrupted downtown thru 6 p.m. Saturday. The red line between the PDX and Gateway will have delays between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m Friday — most of Biden’s activity will be on the east side of Portland.