Presidential Visit To Portland Will Include Fundraising Stop As Well

PORTLAND, OR — President Joe Biden will talk infrastructure during a visit to Portland on Thursday, according to the White House.

He also will be here to raise money for Democrats, according to two sources familiar with the fundraiser that will be held that night.

The fundraiser, first reported by Willamette Week, was originally scheduled to be held at the home shared by two local Democrats with national profiles: Win McCormack, a major donor, and Carol Butler, a political consultant.

The event has since been moved to a larger location to allow for more people to attend, the sources said.

Tickets for the fundraiser, which will be benefit the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, will range up to $36,000, according to the sources.

As for Biden's main reason for visiting Portland — and Seattle the next day — the White House has not released many details.

They told Patch the Portland visit will focus on infrastructure and the Seattle trip will take place so the president can discuss the economy.

A source familiar with planning for the trip, who was not authorized to discuss details because they are still being worked out and could change, said the president will likely talk about how Oregon will benefit from the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure spending bill.

The source said it is possible the president will announce some degree of funding for the interstate bridge replacement project.

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley recently announced that more than $200 million in federal funds, including a $153 million investment in transit infrastructure, are coming to Oregon as a result of the spending bill.

The bill also includes more than $6 million in funding for work by the Army Corps of Engineers at Willamette Falls.

Two of the sources said that it is unlikely that Biden will make a return trip to Salt & Straw, where he stopped for a cone in 2014 when he was vice president and in town to campaign for Merkley.