LOS ANGELES, May 15 (Xinhua) -- With her campaign deep in debt, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is attending two fundraisers here Thursday in what could be her final visit to Southern California as a 2008 presidential candidate.

    One of the two events is at the Century Plaza Hotel near Los Angeles and already "sold out," Sim Farar, one of Clinton's national finance chairs, told a local political news website Thursday.

    Media reports said the Clinton campaign is about 20 million U.S. dollars in debt, including about 11 million dollars she loaned it in what she called a demonstration of her commitment to remain in the race through the last primary on June 3.

    If Clinton is not repaid the money she loaned the campaign by the time the Democratic Party nominates a candidate, U.S. federal law limits the amount she can be reimbursed to 250,000 dollars.

    Clinton's fundraising was aided by her landslide victory in Tuesday's West Virginia primary, which resulted in 1 million dollars in donations, according to the reports.

    It was reported that Clinton now trails Senator Barack Obama by about 170 delegates, while Obama is less than 150 delegates away from having the 2,026 votes to secure the nomination at the forthcoming Democratic National Convention.

    The Clinton campaign began attempting Tuesday night to capitalize on her victory in West Virginia, reportedly sending text messages to supporters' cellular telephones less than an hour after the polls closed, asking them to donate to her campaign.

    A similar e-mail was sent two minutes later, in which Clinton declared that "I'm in this race for everybody who needs a champion."