Joe Biden Plans Another Trek to L.A. With October Event Hosted By Michael Lombardo & Sonny Ward

Ted Johnson

Click here to read the full article.

Joe Biden is planning another visit to Los Angeles for fundraising next month, when he will headline an event hosted by Michael Lombardo, producer and former president of programming at HBO, and his husband, architect Sonny Ward.

The lunchtime event is scheduled for October 10, according to an invite.

More from Deadline

Their home has special significance for Biden. On a trip to Los Angeles in 2012, he met with LGBTQ activists at the Lombardo-Ward home and signaled his support for same-sex marriage. Biden revealed that he favored same-sex marriage weeks later in an interview on Meet the Press, and he mentioned meeting the Lombardo-Ward family and telling the couple that he saw the “look of love those kids had in their eyes” for their parents.

Other co-hosts of the event include James Costos, a former HBO executive and U.S. Ambassador to Spain, and designer Michael Smith; surgeon Phil Mercado and entertainment executive Todd Quinn; and podiatrist Bobby Pourziaee and real estate agent Yale Scott.

Tickets to the event start at $500 per person, with those who raise $10,000 listed as a co-host. That donor level also includes a “clutch,” presumably a conversation with the candidate.

Biden is planning a fundraising swing through Los Angeles on September 25-26. His itinerary includes an event at the home of Sean Burton, CEO of investment management firm Cityview, and his wife Teresa. Co-hosts of the event include Joe Waz, senior strategic adviser to Comcast Corporation, and his wife, Cynthia Telles, founding director of the UCLA Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence.

President Donald Trump, Biden’s potential rival next year, is raising money at an event in Beverly Hills today at a dinner at the home of developer Geoff Palmer and on Wednesday morning at a breakfast in Los Angeles. A Republican official said that two events were expected to raise $8 million.

Although Biden and Trump share a desire to tap the L.A. ATM for their campaigns, there is a big difference: Biden will travel throughout the city with nowhere near the street closures or traffic tieups involved in Trump’s visit today.

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.