Hillary Clinton’s May schedule will include trips to Nevada and South Carolina, three days of fundraising in donor-heavy California, and, once those are finished, her first rally and campaign speech.
Clinton will kick off the three-state swing when she visits Nevada on May 5, according to a campaign aide, who added that the presidential candidate’s events will look similar to the small roundtables that Clinton headlined in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month.
The events will give “people one-on-one time with her to ask questions, answer questions, and share ideas,” said the aide, who did not specify where, exactly, Clinton would be visiting in Nevada.
Clinton will also head to South Carolina, a senior campaign official told CNN on Saturday, though the official did not say when she would visit. The statement was released on the same day that three other likely 2016 Democratic presidential hopefuls — former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — are in The Palmetto State for an event organized by the state party. Clinton is not at Saturday’s event, but she did tape a video that aired for the assembled Democrats.
Campaign aides would not detail why Clinton did not make the trip to Columbia, South Carolina herself.
Amid ethics questions about Clinton and her family foundation, Clinton’s campaign aides have tried to remain focused on what they are calling the campaign’s “ramp-up” period, where Clinton’s organization is being put together and the candidate travels to early voting states for small events that are organized to make her look like a more humble candidate than she was during her failed 2008 White House bid.
Next, Clinton will headline a series of fundraisers in San Francisco on May 6, Los Angeles on May 7, and Silicon Valley on May 8, according to an email invitation obtained by CNN. The events are part of the Clinton campaign’s “Hillstarter” fundraising program that asks donors to find at least 10 people to give $2,700 each.
California was a regular stop on the 2013 and 2014 paid speaking circuit for Clinton. Since the start of 2014, Clinton has visited Silicon Valley a total of five times, including headlining an event at Google in July. Clinton has also headlined a marketing summit in San Francisco, keynoted a sales conference in the area and spoke at the offices of Facebook and Twitter.
The California fundraisers will not be the first of her campaign. Clinton is scheduled to headline the first fundraisers of her new bid for the White House in New York on April 28 and Washington on April 30.
Despite the Clinton team’s attempt to run a frugal campaign, the expectation is that the 2016 effort will cost more than the roughly $1 billion President Obama’s 2012 campaign spent. At early campaign briefings, Dennis Cheng, Clinton’s finance director, has told donors that they will need “at least $100 million in the primary.”
Once Clinton completes her early state tour, aides have said that Clinton “will hold her first rally and deliver the speech to kick off her campaign” in May, though they declined to provide further details, including where and when the event will be held.
CNN’s Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report.