Vice President Joe Biden will be in Utah on Tuesday

Jill Biden will meet with Utah National Guard airmen and their families Tuesday, while her husband, Vice President Joe Biden, is in Utah for a fundraiser.

The vice president will appear Tuesday evening for the Obama Victory Fund 2012 at the Park City home of John and Kristi Cumming.

It marks Biden's first visit to Utah as vice president and the first official event for the Obama campaign in Utah since first lady Michelle Obama spoke at a Park City fundraiser nearly a year ago.

"We're always thrilled to have the president or vice president or their families in Utah," said Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jim Dabakis. "We hope both the first lady and the president, as well as the vice president, would come back and ski with us sometime during the ski season [after the election], as president and vice president."

Republicans plan to greet Biden with protests and signs along the route to Park City.

"The message is: Focus on the economy. Stop the class-warfare stuff. Stop the rhetoric," said Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright. "All these guys, Obama and Biden, talk about is the 1 percent is to blame for the country's problems, then they come to a fundraiser at the home of one of the 1 percent. … It's all become a big lie, and we want to hold them accountable."

Jill Biden will meet with the military families as part of the White House's Joining Forces initiative, aimed at supporting those who have been deployed and their loved ones.

Neither event is open to the public.

Admission to the fundraiser begins at $500 per person with premium seating for $1,000. Attendees can receive a photo with the vice president for $5,000 per person or $8,000 per couple. Those who give $25,000 or raise $50,000 for the campaign will be co-hosts of the event.

The money raised will be split between the Obama for America campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the state Democratic parties in 10 key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Not surprisingly, the Obama team lags well behind Republican candidate Mitt Romney in fundraising in Utah.

Romney had amassed $3.9 million from the Beehive State through the most recent reporting period, according to the Federal Election Commission. The Obama campaign had collected just under $578,000 in Utah.

In June, Romney's campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $106 million nationwide, compared with $71 million for the Obama campaign. However, the Obama team has outraised Romney over the course of the campaign and has a considerable edge when it comes to money left in the bank heading into the last four months of the presidential race.

gehrke@sltrib.com

Twitter: @RobertGehrke