U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris enter the Rose Garden to sign into law H.R. 55, the “Emmett Till Antilynching Act” during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, March 29, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Joe Biden’s allies are quietly meeting with party officials and donors ahead of the 2024 presidential election, as polls show Democratic voters may want an alternative to the incumbent who publicly insists he will seek a second term in the White House.
Top Democrats have already started to rub elbows with the influential people who could propel a White House run in 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris has been in touch with a small group of allies who helped to organize her successful California campaigns for district attorney, attorney general and U.S. Senate, and has held private meetings of at least three supporters in her residences, according to a person briefed on the matter. Harris has said in interviews that she plans to run on Biden’s ticket in 2024.
This person explained that Harris has been in touch with at least two wealthy friends: Vanessa Getty, a model and wife of Billy Getty, an heir to the billionaire Getty family, as well as Laurene Powell Jobs, a billionaire businesswoman and widow of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Both have been close to Harris throughout her political career, and Getty and her family fundraised for many of the vice president’s earlier campaigns for office in California and her unsuccessful 2020 run for president.
Powell Jobs recently met with the vice president at her residences, one of the people explained. Another person familiar with the meetings said “the vice president, when her friends are in town, always enjoys hosting at the residences and that is what the nature of their visits are.”
The vice president’s press secretary declined to comment. A spokesperson for Powell Jobs declined to comment. Vanessa Getty did not respond to requests for comment.
The 2024 election did not come up at Harris’ meetings with these allies, according to those briefed. But the gatherings themselves suggest to those familiar with the conversations that the vice president is keeping those influential people close to either help the Biden-Harris 2024 ticket or to aid her own campaign if the president opts against running for a second term.
Harris is not the only Biden ally who appears to be making inroads with wealthy financiers as the president considers his political future. A Wall Street executive who raised money for Biden’s 2020 campaign said he has heard from both Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom in recent weeks.
This person said that the Democrats did not explicitly ask for support, but acknowledged that their efforts to reconnect show they are likely trying to get big money supporters in their corner in case they run for the White House in two years.
Newsom will have more chances to mingle with wealthy potential campaign patrons soon. Heather Podesta, the longtime lobbyist and Democratic Party fundraiser, is set to host at least seven governors at her home in Santa Monica this week. Dozens of wealthy donors are expected to go.
Newsom and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who both face reelection in 2022 and have been floated as potential 2024 presidential candidates, are set to attend, according to people familiar with the matter. The event officially supports the Democratic Governors Association, which aims to elect Democratic candidates for governor.
Up to 125 people are expected to attend the gathering at Podesta’s home. They include big money donors who have backed both the DGA and the campaigns of individual governors. Podesta reportedly paid over $7 million for the nearly 6,200-square foot property.
The event is another instance of how some Democrats, all of them Biden allies, seem to be making inroads with wealthy financiers in case the commander-in-chief decides not to run for president in what could be a massive 2024 primary, these people explained. Many of these people declined to be named in order to avoid attacks from Biden or his allies.
Newsom has said he has no White House ambitions. He has said he believes Biden should run for president again, and that he would not run against his party leader. Nathan Click, a political spokesperson for Newsom, pointed CNBC to the governor’s recent comments that he has no plans to run for president. Click said Newsom will go to the fundraiser to support party governors and the DGA.
“He regularly participates in DGA fundraisers and believes strongly in helping Democratic governors win across the country,” Click said.
Meanwhile, Polis has said he is not running for president, and his team has noted he plans to serve his full term as governor if he gets reelected. Polis campaign spokesperson Amber Miller told CNBC that Polis “is a Democratic Governor running for re-election attending a DGA fundraiser.”
“The Governor is just focused on running the state of Colorado, and if he’s re-elected, he plans to serve his entire term,” Miller said in an email.
