Obama’s Trio of Florida Fundraisers Expected to Rake in $1.9M
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(BOCA RATON, Fla.) — President Obama’s penchant for piggybacking campaign fundraisers on outside-the-beltway official business will be on full display in Florida Tuesday.
Obama will attend three money events — his 49th, 50th and 51st of the year — that will add at least $1.9 million combined to Democrats’ coffers for the 2012 presidential election, according to figures provided by the campaign.
Sandwiched between them will be an official speech on the “Buffett Rule” at Florida Atlantic University.
The president kicks off his visit by swinging by a $10,000-per-head luncheon with 60 supporters at the Palm Beach Gardens home of Hansel Tookes, a former Navy and United Airlines pilot turned aerospace executive who is now president of Raytheon International. He is a longtime Democratic backer.
After his mid-afternoon public address, Obama will headline a lower-dollar event at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Fla., where singer/songwriter John Legend will be his opening act.
Eight hundred fifty supporters are expected to crowd a ballroom to hear the president’s stump, officials said. General admission tickets started at $500 with a limited number of $250 seats available to the youngest donors, dubbed “Gen44” by the campaign.
Before heading back to Washington, Obama will hobnob with 60 affluent supporters at his most lucrative stop of the day, a reception in Golden Beach hosted by lawyer Jeremy Alters. Tickets were $15,000 apiece, officials said.
Proceeds from all three events benefit the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account that funnels contributions to Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee. The first $5,000 an individual gives goes to Obama, while the remainder, up to $30,800, goes to the DNC.
Obama’s Tuesday swing is his fourth trip of the year and second to Florida combining fundraising with official business. In late February, he visited the University of Miami for a speech on gas prices and then later attended three money events.
His latest round of fundraisers bring to 118 the total number he’s personally attended since April 2011 when he launched a bid for re-election.
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