Hillary Clinton: Why You Should Vote for Me

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The following op-ed appears in Monday’s issue of USA Today:

Hillary Clinton: Why you should vote for me
Hillary Clinton
USA Today
November 6, 2016

In January, America is going to have a new president. Things are going to change — that much is certain. The question is, what kind of change are we going to have?

We can build an economy that works for everyone, or stack the deck even more for those at the top.

We can keep America safe through strength and smarts — or turn our backs on our allies, and cozy up to our adversaries.

We can come together to build a stronger, fairer America, or fear the future and fear each other.

Everything I’ve done, as first lady, senator, or secretary of State, I’ve done by listening to people and looking for common ground, even with people who disagree with me. And if you elect me on Tuesday, that’s the kind of president I’ll be.

Here are four priorities for my first 100 days — issues I’ve heard about from Americans all over our country.

First, we will put forward the biggest investment in new jobs since World War II. We’ll invest in infrastructure and manufacturing to grow our economy for years to come. We’ll produce enough renewable energy to power every home in America within a decade. We’ll cut red tape for small businesses and make it easier for entrepreneurs to get the credit they need to grow and hire — because in America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it. We’ll pay for it all by asking the wealthy, Wall Street and big corporations to finally pay their fair share. And this commitment will go far beyond the first 100 days. Creating more good jobs with rising incomes will be a central mission of my presidency.

Second, we will introduce comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The last president to sign comprehensive immigration reform was Ronald Reagan, and it was a priority for George W. Bush. I’m confident that we can work across the aisle to pass comprehensive reform that keeps families together and creates a path to citizenship, secures our border, and focuses our enforcement resources on violent criminals. This is the right thing to do, and it will also grow our economy.

Third, to break the gridlock in Washington, we need to get secret, unaccountable money out of our politics. It’s drowning out the voices of the American people. So within my first 30 days, I will introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. We should be protecting citizens’ rights to vote, not corporations’ rights to buy elections.

Fourth, we need to get started on end-to-end criminal justice reform. Too many people have been sent away for far too long for non-violent offenses. I believe our country will be stronger and safer when everyone has respect for the law and everyone is respected by the law.

There’s so much more we need to do together, and we certainly won’t get it all done in the first 100 days. But we’re going to roll up our sleeves and get to work for American families — and I’ll never, ever quit.

I want to be president for all Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents; Americans of every race, faith and background.

My opponent has run his campaign on divisiveness, fear and insults, and spent months pitting Americans against each other. I’ve said many times that Donald Trump has shown us who he is. Now we have to decide who we are.

Because it’s not just our names on the ballot this year. Every issue we care about is on the ballot, too. This is about who we are as a country — and whether we are going to have change that makes us stronger together, or change that pushes us further apart.

It all comes down to this. I love our country. I believe in our people. And I think there’s nothing we can’t achieve if we work together and invest in each other.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on TwitterFacebookYouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: USA Today

Hillary Clinton Campaigns with Mothers of the Movement in North Carolina

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Hillary Clinton returned to North Carolina on Sunday where she spoke at a Sunday morning church service and two campaign events. At each of the events, she appeared with Mothers of the Movement, a group of women who have lost children as a the result of gun violence. She began this morning in Durham where spoke at Union Baptist Church. Clinton spoke about the importance of reducing violence, reforming the criminal justice system, and working to end the racial divide in our country. A video of Clinton’s remarks is below.

Clinton spoke to a crowd of supporters at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh about her plans as president, but she also turned the focus of her message away from herself and on candidates running for office down ballot. She spoke about the importance of electing Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Ross in North Carolina, and Clinton encouraged voters to support Ross in addition to supporting her and Tim Kaine on November 8th. While in Raleigh, Clinton also met with voters outside of an early voting center. Watch a video of Clinton’s speech from the rally below.

Clinton then traveled to Charlotte where she spoke to a group of supporters at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. During her speech, Clinton went after Donald Trump for his pledge to not accept the results of the election saying that he is a “direct threat to our democracy.” Clinton then spoke about a number of her key platform proposals including a plan to invest in the infrastructure, increasing investments in the economy, and her plan to make college affordable for everyone. Clinton said that she understands that not everyone supports her and there will be people that vote for Trump, but she wants to be a president for everyone. “I want to be the president for every American – Democrats, Republicans, independents. We have to bring this country together. We have to have everyone pulling in the same direction. I understand some people are angry, but anger is not a plan,” she said. Watch a video of her speech below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on TwitterFacebookYouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: WNCN, News & Observer, NBC News, The Charlotte Observer

Hillary’s Plan: The Economy

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Under Clinton, Economy is “Stronger Together.”  Under Trump, Economy is “Billionaires First.”

Hillary Clinton believes our economy is stronger when we grow together. She’s put forward a comprehensive agenda to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top — fighting for the largest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II, debt-free college, profit-sharing, tax fairness, and family-friendly policies like paid leave. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has put forward an agenda that showers billionaires and millionaires like himself with trillions in tax breaks and new loopholes, recklessly exploding the deficit while actually raising taxes on millions of middle-class families.

When John McCain’s former economic advisor studied the two plans, he actually calculated that under Hillary’s plans the economy would create 10.4 million jobs in her first term alone—while Trump’s plans would result in a “lengthy recession” and a loss of 3.4 million jobs.

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*Trump has outsourced his products to at least 12 countries and routinely picks Chinese steel over U.S. manufacturers.

Hillary Clinton believes we need to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.  As president, Clinton will:

Trump’s reckless agenda would shower billionaires and millionaires like himself with trillions in tax breaks and new loopholes, recklessly exploding the deficit while actually raising taxes on millions of middle-class families. Trump will:

  • Enact a massive backdoor tax cut for billionaires and millionaires like himself, also known as “The Trump Loophole.”
  • Widen the “carried interest” loophole by slashing tax rates on partnerships, including hedge funds and private equity firms.
  • Get rid of the Wall Street reforms enacted after the recent crash, removing protections for consumers.
  • Eliminate the estate tax, resulting in a $4 billion tax cut for his family alone — while giving 99.8% of Americans nothing.
  • Actually raising taxes on millions of middle-class families.

Run up the national debt by nearly $21 trillion over 20 years.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on TwitterFacebookYouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

National Council of La Raza Action PAC Endorses Hillary Clinton

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After receiving the first-ever presidential endorsement from the NCLR Action PAC, Hillary Clinton released the following statement:

“For nearly five decades, the National Council of La Raza has lifted up the Latino community and celebrated its diversity.  NCLR’s investments in training workers, empowering the next generation of students and leaders, and supporting families are a model for the work we need to do across America.

“As President, I’ll proudly work alongside organizations like NCLR to take on the issues that keep Latino families up at night – from creating good jobs with rising incomes in every zip code to passing comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.  Together, we’ll reject the hateful rhetoric that has been directed at Latinos and too many others throughout this election, and open doors of opportunity for Latinos in every corner of our country.

“The stakes have never been higher, and I’m humbled to receive this historic endorsement from NCLR PAC.  As voters head to the polls in states across the country, it’s critical that Latinos make their voices heard in this election.  With so much on the line, now is the time for people from all walks of life to stand up and vote for the kind of country we want to be: a country where we build bridges, not walls; where we’re stronger together; and where every child can live up to his or her God-given potential.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on TwitterFacebookYouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

HFA Highlights Unprecedented Coordinated Campaign Investments

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This morning, Hillary for America Campaign Manager Robby Mook highlighted Hillary for America’s unprecedented coordinated campaign efforts, to date totaling an over $100 million investment, and pointed out additional resources coming in the final weeks to help win Senate, House and governors races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Missouri and Indiana and states across the country.

On the call, Mook said, “Since the primary concluded, our campaign has been coordinating closely with U.S. Senate, House, Gubernatorial, and state races in the battleground states to build a coordinated campaign that leverages resources to help all candidates.  We set up offices in all 50 states and have devoted intensive resources to 12 states and Maine and Nebraska’s second congressional districts.”

Mook announced new enhanced coordination efforts from Hillary for America:

  • An additional six million dollars in mail and digital advertising to get out the vote in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire. States with competitive Governor, Senate and House races.
  • An additional quarter million dollars in Nebraska and Maine’s second congressional districts.
  • An expanded television buy and direct mail and digital advertising program by over two million dollars in Arizona, where Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric has opened new doors for the Democratic Party.  Mook also announced that on Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama will host an Early Vote rally in Phoenix. Days after Senator Bernie Sanders and Chelsea Clinton are in the state.
  • And a commitment to help Senate and Governor races in Indiana and Missouri with a million-dollar investment to turn Democrats out to vote.

Additionally, Mook pointed out the unprecedented commitment from the top of the ticket in support of down ballot races: the 455 offices in battleground states that are open and available to all Democratic candidates to reduce infrastructure cots; the fact that we have down ballot candidates’ names on phone and door scripts to cross-promote; and that we’ve included candidates in speaking programs for principal trips.

“Bottom line: Donald Trump’s erratic behavior and spiraling campaign have left the Republican party in a civil war…. With signs of high turnout across the country, Democrats have a historic opportunity to elect leaders who will partner with Hillary to create jobs and get incomes rising,” Mook said.

The campaign will continue to evaluate ground investment through Election Day.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on TwitterFacebookYouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Kaine Campaigns in Pennsylvania, Meg Whitman in Colorado

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On Tuesday, Tim Kaine began a two-day campaign in Pennsylvania with two events. The first event was in Erie where he spoke about Hillary Clinton’s jobs plan and her proposal to increase investments to improve the country’s infrastructure. Kaine criticized Donald Trump for not releasing his income tax returns and his close ties to Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kaine also responded to questions about Clinton’s health saying, “Can I give you an up-close-and-personal on this? I have been on the trail with Hillary for five weeks, and I can barely keep up with her!” A video from the event is below.

Kaine traveled to Lancaster where he spoke to a group of supporters at the local Boys and Girls Club. During his speech, Kaine touted Clinton’s plan to build the economy by creating millions of jobs, in fact, the most since World War II. He explained that Pennsylvania would benefit with a gain of over 400,000 jobs. Kaine also spoke about Trump calling on him to release his tax returns as both he and Clinton have done. He also criticized Trump’s divisive language warning that we need to work together to move America forward. A video of Kaine’s speech is below.

Meanwhile, in Denver, Colorado, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Meg Whitman campaigned on behalf of Clinton and Kaine. During an event, she spoke about her political background as a Republican and why she is supporting Clinton over Trump. “If you are a lifelong Republican, it’s hard to come across (the partisan divide). But I decided that this year it was clear to me that Secretary Clinton’s temperament, leadership experience and commitment to America’s foundational values make her the far better choice for president.” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper also spoke at the event.

Yesterday, a fundraiser was held in Pensacola Beach, Florida on behalf of Hillary for America. The event featured a conversation with Senator Bill Nelson. A fundraiser was held today in Concord, Massachusetts. The event was held at the home of Allison Picott and Michael Goldstein and included a conversation with Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: PennLive.com, The Denver Post, NBC 10, The New York Times

Clinton Unveils Comprehensive Agenda on Mental Health (Updated)

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Hillary Clinton announced her comprehensive plan to better treat people living with a mental illness. The current mental health treatment policies have been criticized for not properly treating patients. Highlights of Clinton’s plan include the expansion of early intervention programs, a national suicide prevention initiative, increased training for police in dealing with the mentally ill, providing mental health care for those who commit non-violent crimes, expanding employment opportunities, and increasing investments in research for the brain and behavioral research. An outline of the plan is below, and the full plan can be read on The Briefing.

  1. Early Diagnosis and Intervention
    • Increase public awareness and take action to address maternal depression, infant mental health, and trauma and stress in the lives of young children
    • Scale up efforts to help pediatric practices and schools support children facing behavioral problems
    • Help providers share information and best practices
    • Ensure that college students have access to mental health services
  2. Federal Support for Suicide Prevention
    • Create a national initiative around suicide prevention across the lifespan that is headed by the Surgeon General
    • Encourage evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health programs in high schools
    • Provide federal support for suicide prevention on college campuses
    • Partner with colleges and researchers to ensure that students of color and LGBT students are receiving adequate mental health coverage
  3. Integrate our Healthcare Systems and Expand Community-Based Treatment
    • Foster integration between the medical and behavioral health care systems (including mental health and addiction services), so that high-quality treatment for behavioral health is widely available in general health care settings
    • Expand reimbursement systems for collaborative care models in Medicare and Medicaid
    • Promote the use of health information technology to foster coordination of care
    • Promote the use of peer support specialists
    • Encourage states to allow same-day billing
    • Support the creation of high-quality, comprehensive community health centers in every state
    • Launch a nationwide strategy to address the shortage of mental health providers
  4. Improve Outcomes in the Criminal Justice System
    • Dedicate new resources to help train law enforcement officers in responding to encounters involving persons with mental illness, and increase support for law enforcement partnerships with mental health professionals
    • Prioritize treatment over punishment for low-level, non-violent offenders with mental illnesses
  5. Enforcing Mental Health Parity
    • Launch randomized audits to detect parity violations, and increase federal enforcement
    • Enforce disclosure requirements so that insurers cannot conceal their practices for denying mental health care
    • Strengthen federal monitoring of health insurer compliance with network adequacy requirements
    • Create a simple process for patients, families, and providers to report parity violations and improve federal-state coordination on parity enforcement
  6. Housing and Job Opportunities
    • Expand community-based housing opportunities for individuals with mental illness and other disabilities
    • Expand employment opportunities for people with mental illness
    • Expand protection and advocacy support for people with mental health conditions
  7. Brain and Behavioral Science Research
    • Significantly increase research into brain and behavioral science research
    • Develop new links with the private and non-profit sectors
    • Commit to brain and behavioral science research based on open data

UPDATE (8/30/16): Hillary for America announced that Clinton and Tim Kaine spoke with the mental health policy community including patients, advocates, researchers, policy experts, physicians, counselors, and service providers. The conference call featured people from across the country and allowed Clinton to speak about her plan and hear feedback from experts.

Following the meeting, Clinton said, “I have heard heartbreaking stories for years about these incredible challenges, but during this campaign, it has seemed like a floodgate has opened from parents and students, from veterans, nurses, doctors, police officers. But I’ve also heard stories of hope and courage – people getting the help they needed, being able to lead happy, healthy, and thriving lives. And cities and states are deploying innovative programs, and that’s what we want to hear more of. We’ve got to break through and break down the stigma and shame. We’ve got to make clear that mental health is not a personal failing. Right now, it is our country which is failing people with mental health issues.”

Kaine said, “I am really happy that today when our campaign rolled out this proposal with respect to comprehensive mental health improvement, that we decided one group of people that we really want to talk to is college students. Most mental health challenges do first present themselves during adolescence or college. So, while even a mental health challenge of an adult later in life may become more manifest, there are early signs about it. One in four college students today do acknowledge that they are dealing with mental health challenges at some point along the way. And it is very important that we are aware of that and that we make clear that it’s normal, there is no stigma associated with it. And we want to make sure that there are appropriate resources, innovative resources, community-based resources so that people can access help, and that the response of society is treatment rather than judgment or pretending that it doesn’t exist.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: The Briefing, USA Today

Hillary Clinton Announces Plan to Boost Small Businesses

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On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton announced a plan she would introduce as president to boost small businesses. She introduced her plan in an article for LinkedIn followed by a teleconference with members of the press and several small business owners. Clinton warned of Donald Trump’s past business practices with small businesses arguing that a Trump presidency would not be good for small business owners. The comprehensive plan builds on her overall economic plan which would create millions of jobs by investing in infrastructure upgrades and clean energy. Small businesses play into her overall plan as they will provide American workers and products. An outline of the plan is below and the full plan is available on The Briefing.

  1. Make it easier to start a business and become profitable
    • Push states to make it faster and cheaper to start a business
    • Working with states to standardize licensing requirements
    • Making technical assistance and resources available to states
    • Provide incubators, mentoring, and training to 50,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners in underserved communities
  2. Make it easier to get financing and find investors
    • Streamline regulation and cut red tape for community banks and credit unions
    • Harness the potential of online lending platforms
    • Reduce the burden of student debt by allowing entrepreneurs to defer student loan payment
    • Promote the 100% tax exclusion on capital gains for long-term small business investments
    • Expand and streamline the SBA’s Small Business Investment Company program
    • Support new innovative ways to assess creditworthiness for small business owners
    • Expand access to credit in underserved communities
    • Give the SBA administrator the authority to continue providing 7(a) loan guarantees to small businesses
    • Expand access to working capital by expanding the SBA’s working capital guarantee programs
  3. Make it cheaper and faster to file taxes and pay for tax relief
    • Work to create a new standard deduction for small businesses
    • Allow 4 million small businesses with gross receipts under $1 million to take advantage of “checkbook accounting”
    • Allow small businesses to immediately expense up to $1 million in new investments
    • Quadruple the start-up tax deduction to significantly lower the cost of starting a business
  4. Make it easier to offer health care and other benefits to employees
    • Simplify and expand the healthcare tax credit
    • Allow more small businesses pool together to offer retirement plans
  5. Make it easier to work with the federal government
    • Work to completely revamp the digital experience for small businesses
    • Use the leverage of more than $400 billion in federal government contracting to encourage businesses to pay their suppliers in full and on time
    • Guarantee a 24-hour response time to small businesses with questions about federal regulations and access to capital programs
    • Ensure that Small Business Development Centers are placed in the highest-need communities with staff that speaks the language of local residents
    • Work to ensure that federal regulations aren’t unnecessarily holding small businesses and our economy back
    • Increase federal contracting opportunities for women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned small businesses
    • Defend and strengthen the Export-Import Bank
    • Encourage small business exports by expanding SBA funding for export development
  6. Make it easier to fight back when you’re getting stiffed

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: LinkedIn, The Briefing, Bloomberg, Forbes

HFA Statements on Trump Campaign Chair Pro-Kremlin Ties

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Hillary for America released two statements following reports that the campaign chair for Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, has ties to pro-Putin elements in Ukraine. Manafort was named in an investigation by Ukrainian authorities. The report sites off the books records of payments to Manafort. The investigation is on-going. HFA Senior Policy Advisor Robby Mook released a statement calling Manafort’s actions into question. A copy of the statement is below.

“On the eve of what the Trump campaign has billed as a major foreign policy speech, we have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine.  Given the pro-Putin policy stances adopted by Donald Trump and the recent Russian government hacking and disclosure of Democratic Party records, Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort’s and all other campaign employees’ and advisers’ ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump’s employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them.”

As more details were released, the campaign released a second, extended statement from Mook. The statement includes a number of questions for Trump’s campaign as well as a list of members of Trump’s team with Russian Connections. The full statement is below.

“Facing another news story detailing Trump’s team’s ties to Russia and on the day of his foreign policy address, Trump’s campaign manager’s statement raised more questions than it addressed. This is a serious matter and there are real concerns about the pro-Kremlin interests engaged with the Trump team. As someone running to lead American policy and national security, Donald Trump owes the American public answers.”

  1. Between Trump’s campaign chair Paul Manafort and many other allies and surrogates, Trump should disclose the details of any ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities. Which of Trump’s employees or advisers are currently representing and/or being paid by these pro-Russia entities?  How did these employees or advisers influence the numerous pro-Putin policy stances already adopted by the campaign?
  1. Multiple sources have disputed Manafort’s claims on the RNC platform, confirming that the pro-Russia changes were made at the behest of the Trump campaign. Will Trump investigate how the change was made and which of his advisers advocated for it?
  1. Given Paul Manafort’s history of potentially skirting the Foreign Agent Registration Act and the allegations in the story, will Trump investigate whether his own campaign chair violated FARA and/or whether the reported payments violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
  1. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s Foreign Policy Adviser Carter Page’s “background in Russia has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.” Page, who has investments in Russian energy giant Gazprom, has been highly critical of U.S. and European economic sanctions placed on Russia and recently broke precedent by giving a speech critical of U.S. policy while in Moscow. What pro-Kremlin policies has Page advocated with Trump?
  1. After recent Russian government hacking and disclosure of Democratic Party records, it was revealed that long-time Trump confidante Roger Stone was in communication with Julian Assange, leader of Wikileaks and source of key leaked information. In light of WikiLeaks reported ties to Russia, will Donald Trump disclose details of information shared between him and Roger Stone on Assange and the hack of US citizens?

Trump Campaign Aides’ Ties To Russia

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: CNN

Kaine Campaigns in Manchester, NH

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Tim Kaine spoke to a group of supporters on Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire. During the rally at Saint Anselm College, Kaine touted Hillary Clinton’s economic plans and her proposed investment in the country’s infrastructure. He said that her plan would create millions of jobs across the country, while her opponent’s economic plan would not. Kaine also went after Donald Trump for not releasing his income tax returns after Clinton released her 2015 return and Kaine released ten years of his returns yesterday. Speaking about the tradition of presidents and presidential candidates releasing their returns, he said, “Everybody’s done it. Trump is not doing it. He says the rules that apply to everybody else do not apply to Donald J. Trump.” A video from the event is below.

On Friday, a fundraiser was held on behalf of Hillary for America in New York City. Senator Cory Booker was the guest at the event. Then, on Saturday, Phil Angelides attended a fundraiser in Los Angeles, California. The event was hosted by Steve Hely, Vali Chandrasekaran, Melissa Lo, and Matt Warburton. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Georgia, Senator Booker attended a for45 event.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: NBC News, The Washington Post