Vice President Pence plans California fundraising visit
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to arrive in California this weekend for a fundraising trip in a state that overwhelmingly rejected his boss.
Pence was set to arrive in Los Angeles on Sunday for an evening reception. He was planning to raise money and talk about tax reform during a three-day trip in the state.
Pence was in Las Vegas on Saturday. He spoke at an afternoon prayer service honoring the 58 victims killed last Sunday in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The vice president was scheduled to fly to Indianapolis to attend Sunday's Colts football game before jetting to Los Angeles for a private 6:30 p.m. reception.
Pence and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were scheduled to hold a luncheon fundraiser at a country club in wealthy Newport Beach on Monday, with tickets starting at $2,700 each, the Orange County Register reported (http://bit.ly/2yykHwR ), citing Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel.
That was one of several stops Pence originally had planned for September. A breakfast event in Bakersfield and a Sacramento dinner also were cancelled because the vice president instead visited Florida to survey damage from Hurricane Irma.
The White House and Pence's office did not immediately confirm whether he would visit Sacramento and the agricultural Central Valley - where McCarthy's district is located - on this trip.
California, a majority Democratic state, rejected Donald Trump by about 4 million votes in the presidential election. Trump hasn't visited since he won office.
California also has firmly opposed the administration's immigration policies. Gov. Jerry Brown signed sanctuary state legislation Thursday that extends protections for immigrants living in the United States illegally.
But California also has several Republican Congress members who are Democratic targets.
Pence's visit, which would focus on pockets of conservatism in the huge state, could raise millions of dollars for the GOP.