Biden will hit California campaign trail

Vice President Biden will travel to Bakersfield, Calif., next month for a campaign appearance to boost the Democrat challenging Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), a White House official confirmed Wednesday.

{mosads}The Oct. 7 stop was first announced on the Facebook page of Amanda Renteria, a former aide to Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who is hoping to flip the heavily Hispanic district. Considered a top challenger by national Democrats, some have privately soured on their hopes in the race though, and a recent poll showed Valadao up by 19 points. 

Neither Renteria’s campaign nor the White House would say what type of event Biden plans to participate in, although administration officials have said the president, vice president, and first lady will step up their campaign appearances next month ahead of the midterm elections.

Biden has been headlining private Democratic fundraisers in recent months, but Renteria’s decision to tease the event publicly suggests it will not be one of those closed-press events.

Valadao won the district in 2012 despite President Obama capturing the Central Valley voters by a 55-44 percent margin, but Democrats credit that victory largely to a poor campaign operation and bad fundraising by John Hernandez, the Democratic nominee that year. Feinstein carried the district by 12 percentage points in 2012, and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown won by a 48-44 percent margin during midterm voting in 2010.