New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will hold a fundraising reception in Beverly Hills Tuesday evening amid speculation he will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves and DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg are expected to attend the event organized by the Motion Picture Association of America at the home of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Chairman Jeff Shell and his wife Laura, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Cuomo is set to start his day in San Francisco with a breakfast at a law firm in San Francisco, which Giants president Larry Baer will attend, according to The Times, quoting sources familiar with the events.
Tickets for the two events range from $1,000 to $50,000, a Cuomo advisor told The Times. Cuomo’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
One member of the organizing committee for the Los Angeles event said the motive behind it was, in part, to maintain New York City’s favorable tax credits.
Cuomo is expected to run for a third term as governor in 2018.
Cuomo rarely traveled out of New York until recently and avoided any speculation about presidential ambitions. However, he appears to be elevating his national profile.
Cuomo has made pointed remarks challenging the policies of the Trump administration, though not usually calling out the president by name, while also venturing farther from New York, The Times reported.
In May, following a wave of anti-Semitic acts, he traveled to Israel to show support for the Jewish community. In September he visited Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assess hurricane damage. A few days later he spoke in Las Vegas at a meeting of the Transport Workers Union of America, which could provide crucial labor support in a potentially crowded Democratic primary field.
State campaign finance records show Cuomo has already amassed a considerable war chest for 2018, with more than $25 million in the bank as of July, The Times reported.
Under federal campaign finance law, funds raised for a state campaign cannot be transferred to federal campaigns, but unused contributions may be refunded and then re-solicited for use in a campaign for federal office.
—City News Service