Governor Patrick headed to West Coast on fundraising swing
Governor Deval Patrick, who has been leaving Massachusetts for more frequent political travel in his second term, is headed out of state again, this time to the West Coast for three days of fundraising and politicking.
Patrick will fly to Los Angeles on Thursday for a fundraiser at a restaurant for his federal political action committee, Together PAC, an aide said. The next morning, will he speak at a breakfast in Los Angeles for donors to President Obama’s reelection campaign.
From there, Patrick will head north, to Seattle, for another fundraiser for the Together PAC on Friday evening at a private home. On Saturday morning, he will hold his lone public event, when he speaks to Obama supporters at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist Church in Renton, Wa.
On Saturday night, Patrick will headline the Oregon Democratic Party’s third annual Wayne Morse dinner at the Tiffany Center in Portland, where tickets are selling for $125. Oregon Democrats are promoting Patrick as a leader in healthcare who “made Massachusetts into a national leader in job creation, educational achievement, and clean energy.’’
Patrick returns to Massachusetts on Sunday.
Alex Goldstein, a spokesman for the Together PAC, said Patrick is taking the trip because it is “an opportunity for the governor to be a part of the national debate and to have a strong voice in the upcoming election cycle.’’
The governor has already spoken to Democratic groups in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Florida, and Colorado. He has upcoming trips planned to Vermont and South Carolina.
The increasing pace of his fundraising and travel has stirred speculation that, like past Massachusetts governors, he is growing restless with Beacon Hill and is eager to make the leap to national office. Patrick has insisted he is happy with his job, and simply wants to travel the country in support of his friend, Obama.
The Together PAC recently reported that, between Jan. 1 and April 1, it had raised $253,319 and had $380,000 cash on hand.
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