A political action committee encouraging former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016 will stage a fundraiser tonight at a downtown nightclub.
About 200 people are expected to hear Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, City Controller Ron Galperin, Councilwoman Nury Martinez and former City Controller Wendy Greuel speak at the fundraiser at Exchange LA for Ready for Hillary, according to Seth Bringman, the committee’s communications director.
Tickets are priced at $20.16. The event is expected to raise “a few thousand dollars,” Bringman told City News Service.
“Since we started, we have been more interested in building up a big army of Hillary supporters than a big bank account,” Bringman said.
The committee has held similar fundraising events across the nation that have “played a big role in helping us pull in more than 20,000 individual contributors,” Bringman said.
Funds raised tonight will be used for supporter list building, digital advertising, analytics, website, printed materials, staff, office space “and other vital expenditures,” Bringman said.
Co-hosts for tonight’s fundraiser include Antonio Villaraigosa Jr., the son of the former mayor.
Ready for Hillary is “an independent effort” and does not coordinate its activities with Clinton, Bringman said. It is seeking to show Clinton “she will have a grassroots army of supporters behind her,” if she runs, Bringman said.
“As President (Barack) Obama’s campaigns demonstrated in 2008 and 2012, successful presidential efforts are not built overnight,” Bringman said.
Clinton has given no indication about when she will decide if she will run for president.
Clinton will not be at the event. She is scheduled to be in Southern California for the second time in two weeks Friday to be honored at a gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel benefiting the International Medical Corps and an awards brunch Saturday at USC benefiting the Mexican American Leadership Initiative and CSII.
Clinton attended a fundraiser in Beverly Hills last Wednesday in support of Terry McAuliffe, who was elected governor of Virginia Tuesday.
