Kamala Harris to hold Oak Bluffs "Grassroots Reception" for reelection Saturday

Vice President Kamala Harris will make the on Saturday trip to Martha’s Vineyard to fundraise for President Joe Biden’s and her own reelection campaign, according to an invitation to the event. The “A Grassroots Reception” event is the third time the Biden campaign trail has wound through the Cape and Islands. First lady Jill Biden made campaign fundraising stops in Provincetown and Nantucket last month.

The fundraiser will be held in Oak Bluffs, state Sen. Julian Cyr , D-Truro, confirmed Thursday, though the invitation does not specify an address. Tickets start at $50, with the priciest option leaping to $10,000 for a “co-chair” position and a photo.

Among the event hosts are Wendell Pierce, Judith Batty and Carol Fulp. Host Robin Leeds declined to comment Thursday, referring questions to the campaign office.

Mark Hickey, a Democratic National Committee staffer listed as a contact on the invite, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Harris has visited Martha's Vineyard most summers

Cyr said Thursday he would attend both the event and a private reception to follow, and that he was excited to welcome the vice president to the Vineyard. Harris, he said, has come to the Vineyard most summers for visits, and her sister owns a home there.

“I think people are thrilled to have the vice president join us,” Cyr said. “With so much on the line, the Biden/Harris administration deserves our support.”

First lady Jill Biden, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also raising money on Cape and Islands

It has been an eventful month for those on the Cape and Islands tuned into the presidential race. On July 21, First lady Jill Biden raised money in Provincetown for the Biden Victory Fund, before heading to Nantucket the next day.

On July 29, Republican hopeful Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, made an appearance at a small fundraiser in Cotuit, where guests were met by over 100 protesters that had amassed off the strength of a viral TikTok earlier in the week.

Harris's visit will be the first presidential campaign event on the Vineyard this cycle. If last cycle’s numbers are any indicator, she’ll have some luck: Dukes County, which includes all of Martha's Vineyard, went for Biden/Harris over Trump/Pence in 2020 at a rate of nearly 4 to 1.

The Biden reelection effort raised $789,535 in the first half of 2023 in Massachusetts, more than doubling the Republican frontrunner and former president Donald Trump. Biden, however, trails Trump in overall fundraising by about $4 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Kamala Harris fundraising for reelection in Oak Bluffs Aug 12