Hillary Clinton Courts Asians, Big Money in Southland Fundraisers

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought her Democratic presidential campaign to the Southland on Thursday, helping introduce the “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Hillary” initiative and attending a trio of fundraisers.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, and dozens of Asian American and Pacific Islander elected officials and community leaders from across the nation joined Clinton to introduce the campaign initiative in San Gabriel, with the presidential hopeful insisting she will fight for them as president.

Chu, the chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said Clinton understands the priorities of the community.

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing racial demographic in the country, yet have too often been denied a seat at the table,” Chu said. “In my conversations with members of the community, there is a real thirst to be involved and heard, which is why it is essential that candidates see that AAPIs, once marginalized, are now becoming the margin of victory.

“With the launch of her National AAPI Leadership Council, Hillary Clinton is recognizing the importance of engaging with our community in a way that no other candidate has,” she said.

Clinton also attended a luncheon fundraiser hosted by Chu where about 250 attendees contributed $2,700 to attend, according to the Clinton campaign.

The maximum individual contribution under federal law for a candidate seeking his or her party’s presidential nomination is $2,700.

“While the RNC has for years been focused on engaging our nation’s growing AAPI communities, Hillary Clinton’s recent AAPI interests are for her own political fundraising benefit,” said Ninio Fetalvo, the Republican National Committee’s Asian Pacific American press secretary.

“The reality is Democrats have long taken the AAPI community for granted and Hillary Clinton will be no different as she continues to support the same failed policies that hurt AAPIs across the country.”

Clinton next conducted what was billed as a “family celebration” for about 375 people at the Jim Henson Co. studio lot in Hollywood.

Tickets were priced at $500. Individuals donating $1,000 received one adult ticket and a ticket for an individual under 16 years old. Donors contributing $2,700 received one adult ticket and two tickets for individuals under 16 years old, according to information posted on the website PoliticalPartyTime.org which tracks political fundraisers.

At her last event of the day, Clinton was joined by Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett at an evening reception at the L.A.-area home of City National Bank Chairman and CEO Russell Goldsmith and his wife, Karen.

Tickets were $2,700, according to an invitation obtained by City News Service. Individuals raising $10,000 or more for the campaign were co-hosts of the event and could have a photo taken with Clinton. Those raising $50,000 or more were hosts. A spokesman for the campaign said about 300 people attended the event.

At a town hall event Tuesday in Sioux City, Iowa, Clinton described Buffett as “my favorite billionaire because he says tax me more.”

The trip to Southern California was the sixth for the 68-year-old Clinton since she declared her candidacy on April 12, 2015. She held 14 fundraisers, participated in a roundtable discussion with a group of home care providers and appeared on the ABC late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” during her previous visits to the region.

The Clinton campaign announced last week it had raised more than $112 million for her primary campaign in 2015, what it described as “a record for the best off-year fundraising of any non-incumbent in history.”

More than 60 percent of the donors were women.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of the campaign