The deep pockets of the Silicon Valley tech giants and venture capitalists continue to play a major role in this historical presidential election.
While vice presidential hopeful JD Vance is scheduled to be in the Bay Area next week for a fundraiser, political leaders say Republicans are taking a bigger piece of the pie from Silicon Valley's donor elites.
Vance is no stranger to the Silicon Valley after building an investment firm in the region and hobnobbing with some of the area's wealthiest conservatives. And GOP leaders said their reach is growing.
"There's a lot of shifting sands here on how entrepreneurs and venture capitalists see the Republican party," said John Dennis, San Francisco Republican Party chairman.
In a recent Silicon Valley fundraiser, former President Donald Trump raised an estimated $12 million.
Dennis said if Vance brings in half that much at a $3,300 a plate dinner in Palo Alto on Monday it will be another big success.
"I don't know how much interest there is in the tech community in Kamala Harris," Dennis said.
Dennis said the donors are drawn to the GOP ticket's free speech and free market agendas.
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But Democratic party leaders said it is about something else: money.
"For all that JD Vance tries to color himself as the hillbilly from the hills of Kentucky and Ohio, he was a product of Silicon Valley," said Jeffrey Kwong, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club president. "You know he worked for Peter Thiel."
Kwong said the Silicon Valley's richest donors are focused on Trump's sunsetting tax breaks and still looking to see Harris' platform.
"Whether or not Kamala Harris' tax plan will be dovetailing Biden's tax plan, which he unveiled in March and April this year, and which called for pretty radical taxes on a lot of big financial and tech institutions," Kwong said. "I think we will see more and more of the Silicon Valley turning toward Donald Trump."
There is some hope for the Harris campaign in the Bay Area.
Three Silicon Valley heavy hitters announced their support for Harris on Tuesday, including the co-founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, who gave $7 million to a Harris super PAC.
