How often does a sitting US president visit Tampa Bay? You’d be surprised.

Florida may not be quite the presidential swing state it once was. In the 2020 election, with its electorate shifting gradually to the right, Sunshine State voters went for Donald Trump — only the second time since 1960 that Florida didn’t back the eventual winner.

But one thing you can count on: If it’s a presidential election year, the president will usually make at least one stop in Tampa Bay.

Almost every four years since 2000, the sitting president has visited the region, often on the campaign trail, but occasionally just to talk policy or conduct official business. That trend will continue on Tuesday, when President Joe Biden will make an appearance in Tampa to talk about abortion access in Florida and around the country.

This is a campaign stop, not an official White House visit, meaning it’s not primarily taxpayer-funded. But it is Biden’s second visit to Tampa as president, and approximately the 30th local stop by a sitting president this century. (We’re mostly just counting Hillsborough and Pinellas County visits, though we did include a couple of stops in other nearby counties.) Presidents have also dropped into Tampa Bay before they reached the White House, or after they left. But it’s always a much bigger deal anytime Air Force One touches down.

Here’s a look at Tampa Bay visits from presidents since 2000.

Joe Biden

Biden visited Tampa Bay several times as vice president, including once on the eve of the 2016 election, when he appeared at a St. Petersburg rally alongside singer Jimmy Buffett. But he’s only been here once as president, on Feb. 9 of last year, when he spoke about health care at the University of Tampa days after the State of the Union address. He was scheduled to visit in July 2022, but the trip was called off when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Donald Trump

Speaking of COVID-19, one of Trump’s four presidential trips to Tampa Bay came on July 31, 2020, when, following a news conference at Belleair’s Pelican Golf Club, a journalist covering his visit tested positive for the coronavirus. (Trump himself tested negative.) Trump’s first local visit as president was a trip to MacDill Air Force Base in 2017. He later held campaign-style rallies at the Florida State Fairgrounds in 2018 and Raymond James Stadium in October 2020.

Barack Obama

While running for reelection in 2012, Obama spent a lot of time in Tampa Bay, which hosted that year’s Republican National Convention. The Democratic president visited the Tampa Bay area no fewer than five times that year, including three times in September and October. During one of those visits, he stopped by the West Tampa Sandwich Shop for a Cuban and about 45 minutes of politicking. During another, he attended a high-dollar South Tampa fundraiser with celebrity chef Tyler Florence and Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder.

In all, Obama visited Tampa Bay at least eight times as president. In 2010, he came to the University of Tampa alongside then-Vice President Biden for a discussion on high-speed rail funding. He spent the night here in 2014, sleeping at a Hilton in downtown Tampa before meeting with military brass at MacDill and popping in for a visit at Tinker Elementary School. And he came once in 2016, after Trump had been elected his successor, speaking at MacDill about his record on terrorism.

George W. Bush

Considering much of his presidency overlapped with his brother Jeb’s stint as Florida’s governor, perhaps it’s no surprise no recent president has spent more time in Tampa Bay than Bush. He came to the area at least 15 times as president — including, famously, on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was reading to a class of schoolchildren in Sarasota when he learned terrorists had attacked the World Trade Center.

Like Obama, Bush was an active campaigner in Tampa Bay, visiting at least five times between February and October 2004 during his reelection race against John Kerry. During one visit, he campaigned in New Port Richey — one of the few times a sitting president has ever visited Pasco County — and stayed at the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach. He also stopped by the University of South Florida in 2002 to stump for Jeb’s reelection campaign.

The Republican president came down so frequently — an average of about twice a year — that it’s hard to keep track of all his travels. In 2001, he helped build an east Tampa home for Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he took questions from residents in Sun City Center. In 2006, while in town for a fundraiser for then-state Rep. Gus Bilirakis’ first congressional campaign, he stopped by the Buccaneers’ practice facility, signing footballs and talking with players and head coach Jon Gruden. In both 2003 and 2004, he dined at Bern’s Steak House.

He did not, however, come in 2008 to campaign locally for Republican presidential contender John McCain, in part because Bush’s low approval ratings were seen as a negative.

Bill Clinton

Like Bush, Clinton didn’t campaign much for Al Gore during the 2000 presidential race, fearing his impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky scandal might hurt his vice president. But he did appear once that July, speaking at a senior center before headlining a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for then-Sen. Bill Nelson.