Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is considered a contender for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020, is spending money nationwide ahead of the midterm elections to help his party — and to buy support.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The Democratic Midterm Victory Fund — Garcetti’s most ambitious fundraising endeavor yet to help his party — is boosting the mayor’s national profile and allowing him to forge alliances with party leaders as he considers a long-shot bid for the White House. Launched last year to help congressional candidates and state parties ahead of the November midterm election, the committee had raised $673,000 through late June, according to a Times analysis of the most recent filings. It’s one of the most concrete efforts by the mayor to expand his political presence beyond California as he tests the waters for a possible presidential run.

Garcetti’s spending supports Democratic efforts in 19 states, the Times reports, including key primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

As Breitbart News has reported, Garcetti has traveled to all three of those states to lay the groundwork for a presidential run.

The Times adds, however, that Garcetti’s travel expenses have attracted criticism, as has his alleged neglect of problems in L.A., like homelessness:

(Garcetti’s travel expenses have become an issue for the mayor. The Times is suing the city over its refusal to disclose how much taxpayers are spending on the security detail that accompanies him on his trips.)

Jane Demian, a committee member of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council and member of the L.A. Tenants Union, supports flipping Republican seats. But Garcetti’s attention on national politics is “at the expense of focusing on homelessness and housing,” Demian said. “This is a crisis and he’s not acting like it’s an emergency.”

Other California candidates in 2020 could include Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who is considered the party’s frontrunner.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.