President Joe Biden is in the Bay Area this week for campaign fundraising events.
The president's Bay Area visit started on Tuesday with a campaign reception. The event was held in Atherton and was hosted by billionaire couple Mark Heising and Liz Simons.
Tickets for the sold-out reception ranged from $5,000 to $100,000.
"$100,000 dinners are something 99% of Americans have no hope of ever participating in," Cal State East Bay professor and political analyst Nolan Higdon said. "The fact that people in the Atherton area can come up with that type of money, it tells you exactly why he’s having a campaign meeting here in the Bay Area."
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On Wednesday, Biden is set to meet with his council of advisors on science and technology in San Francisco before heading to another fundraiser hosted by Facebook co-founder Andrew McCollum.
Political experts say the campaign dollars are critical as Biden faces several challenges, including a looming federal government shutdown.
"Biden is visiting California at a time when his campaign is facing some very difficult polls," Higdon said. "A lot of polls show head-to-head matchups with Donald Trump have Biden neck and neck or even behind in some of these polls. He's going to need to kick-start his campaign."
The president was last in the region in June for a three-day trip in which he met with tech leaders to discuss artificial intelligence technology, announced a $600 million investment in climate change adaptation strategies around the country, and went to two campaign events in Los Gatos and Atherton.
In mid-November, Biden returns to the Bay Area for the APEC summit in San Francisco.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
