President Biden will cast his midterm election ballot this weekend in his home state of Delaware, where in-person early voting begins Friday.
The White House said Mr. Biden will vote alongside his granddaughter Natalie Biden, 18, who is a first-time voter and a college student at the University of Pennsylvania. The Democratic president is casting his ballot as his party is facing an uphill battle to hold on to control of Congress and as Democrats have made a priority of encouraging their supporters to vote early in jurisdictions where it is available to maximize turnout.
Mr. Biden’s trip to his polling place comes as he is spending a long weekend at his Wilmington home. He’ll make a brief trip to nearby Philadelphia on Friday night to attend an event for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party with Vice President Kamala Harris. A Democratic official said the fundraiser will raise $1 million for the state party, with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in a close race against GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz for a critical U.S. Senate seat. The two are competing to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
Earlier this week, the president authorized the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to transfer $10 million to House and Senate Democratic campaign committees and is pledging to help raise $8 million for party candidates, a senior party official familiar with the plans told CBS News.
Last month, the president made a quick last-minute trip to Wilmington to cast his ballot in the state’s Democratic primary. At the time, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden’s schedule required the brief Air Force One jaunt to Wilmington to vote.
“He thought it was important to exercise his constitutional right to vote, as I just mentioned, and set an example by showing the importance of voting,” she told reporters. “He also had the opportunity to say hello to poll workers and thank them for their work. And we know how under attack poll workers have been these past several years.”
