While GOP candidates gear up for Simi Valley debates, Joe Biden plans SoCal trip

Maybe Joe Biden didn’t want to be left out.

As the Republican presidential candidates gather to square off in two debates Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, the vice president will be spending the day in Southern California promoting the Obama administration’s climate change agenda.

Biden is set to speak in Orange County at the Anaheim Convention Center for a solar power trade show hosted by the Solar Electric Power Association on Wednesday morning. He’ll then head north to downtown Los Angeles, where he is scheduled to give the closing remarks at the U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit, hosted by Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Biden also will meet with the U.S. mayors in attendance, according to the draft agenda.

Biden last visited Los Angeles in July to tour Bobrick Washroom Equipment Inc., a manufacturing firm headquartered in North Hollywood. His staff billed the visit as an effort to promote the importance of middle-class jobs and boost the nationwide campaign to raise the minimum wage.

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The previous visit came one day after L.A. County approved a plan to gradually raise the minimum wage in unincorporated areas of the county to $15, mirroring legislation passed in May by the L.A. City Council.

No word on whether Biden might try to make an appearance in the Spin Room at the debate.

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For more, go to latimes.com/politics.

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