WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Al Gore will visit the headquarters of Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) next Monday where he will meet with officials and employees.

Company officials said the visit to the company's campus in Redmond, Washington, will be closed to the media in keeping with company practices.

The Democratic presidential hopeful will be hosted by Microsoft vice president Jeff Raikes. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to be out of town attending a big computer trade show.

The visit is sensitive following last week's legal decision by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft used monopoly power to harm consumers.

Microsoft has become an increasingly powerful force in the political world and has drastically ramped up its political contributions in the past two years, with most of the money going to Republicans.

Several other presidential candidates, including Republican front-runner George W. Bush, have visited Microsoft in recent months.