POLITICS

Biden coming to Providence for fundraiser

Patrick Anderson
panderson@providencejournal.com
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the United Federation of Teachers annual Teacher Union Day on Sunday in New York. [AP / Craig Ruttle]

Former Vice President Joe Biden is coming to Providence next month to raise money for his presidential campaign.

Biden is slated to attend a fundraiser in the East Side home of Sally Lapides and her husband, Arthur Solomon, on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m., the longtime Democratic supporters confirmed. (Initially the event was going to be the 25th.) Solomon is a member of Biden's national finance committee.

Biden's slated visit to Providence, first reported by WPRI, would be one of the first by a Democratic presidential candidate to Rhode Island since the campaign geared up this year. Tulsi Gabbard spoke at Brown this year and Andrew Yang, a Brown graduate, has raised money in the state.

Elizabeth Warren spoke at Brown last year.

Solomon said he sent invitation emails to Democratic donors with a $1,000 suggested donation, but anything between $100 and the $2,800 personal limit is appreciated.

"This is not an election where anyone should sit on the sidelines," Solomon said Tuesday evening. "It is the most consequential election either Sally or I have been involved in or followed."

Biden has strong connections to Rhode Island's Democratic establishment and campaigned with party leaders in Providence for last year's state elections, before he had announced he was running for president.

But as his rivals have risen in the polls, Biden's fundraising has fallen behind. In the third quarter Warren raised the most money in Rhode Island, followed by Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.