In a boisterous homecoming after becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to California on Sunday and reveled in being surrounded by supporters she has known for decades while warning of a bleak future for the nation if Democrats don’t win in November.
“It’s good to be home,” Harris told about 700 people who roared and leapt to their feet when she took the stage in a San Francisco hotel ballroom. “This is a room full of dear, dear friends and lifelong supporters, people I’ve known my entire career. … We’ve been through a lot together. I want to thank everyone here for your love and your long-standing support and friendship and for your dedication to this country.”
The mood at the fundraiser was warm and upbeat — a woman in the front row waved a sign that read “Make America Joyful Again.” But Harris turned serious as she argued that fundamental rights like health care, same-sex marriage and abortion are at stake in the race against former President Trump.
“We know what we have to do: we have to knock on doors, we have to register people to vote, we have to get people to the polls. And every day counts,” he said. “That’s why we’re going to win, but let’s not take anything for granted.”
The event, which featured House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Rep. Barbara Lee, San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer and a host of other elected officials and donors, raised more than $12 million in the city that laid the groundwork for Harris’ political career. Tickets range from $3,300 to $500,000.
Harris worked as a prosecutor and a San Francisco City attorney before being elected district attorney in 2002, serving as a springboard for her later roles as state attorney general and then U.S. senator.
“It’s a good day to welcome Kamala Harris back to California,” said Pelosi, who introduced the vice president. “It makes us proud, it gives us great joy and hope.”
The event had the feel of a family reunion. Harris’s niece’s young children posed for photos in front of a large Harris/Walz campaign sign on the stage. Harris caught the attention of several attendees from the stage, with most of the attention focused on Newsom. She recalled the day in 2004 when they were sworn in in San Francisco — she as district attorney and he as mayor — and also their work marrying gay couples that year.
“I have known Gavin as a friend and colleague for many, many years,” he said. “I want to thank him in front of all of our friends here for being an extraordinary leader for California and the nation.”
The event capped a whirlwind three weeks in the presidential campaign, with President Biden announcing he would not seek reelection, Democrats quickly coalescing around the vice president as their nominee and Harris selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
In Biden's first interview since announcing he would not seek another term, he said his decision was motivated by the importance of beating Trump, concerns among some members of the House and Senate that it could hurt their chances and that his candidacy could “be a real distraction.”
“The critical issue for me remains — and it’s no joke — preserving this democracy,” he said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS. While “it’s a great honor to be president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do what I can do, the most important thing that can be done, and that is we must defeat Trump.”
Harris and Walz spent the past week touring battleground states, events that drew large crowds.
“People come to these events and bring a lot of joy with them. People are singing and dancing in the aisles long before we get there,” Harris said. “They show up not just because we need to defeat Donald Trump, but because they believe in our country and our freedom.”
On Saturday, Democrats picked up the backing of the powerful Las Vegas Culinary Workers Union, and Harris announced she supported not taxing tips, a proposal immensely popular among service industry workers and one Trump backed in June.
“Kamala impersonator directly plagiarized President Trump’s proposal to waive tip taxes in order to allow hard-working service workers to keep more of their own hard-earned money,” the Republican’s campaign said in a statement.
Sunday's fundraiser also took place four years to the day after Biden chose her as his running mate, months after Harris's 2020 presidential campaign failed.
“This was the best decision I ever made,” Biden wrote in a fundraising campaign. “Kamala is smart. She is tough. She will be a great president.”
California Republicans chose the location of Sunday's fundraiser to cast doubt on Democratic leadership and point to dysfunction in San Francisco.
“For anyone unsure of what a Harris presidency would look like, take some time to tour her hometown, where crime is rampant, homelessness is visible on virtually every corner, and storefronts and office spaces sit empty as businesses close and people move away with no plans to return,” state Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement.
Given California’s strong Democratic tilt, there will be no contest in November. But it is home to so many wealthy donors that it provides the bulk of campaign money to candidates in both parties. The GOP vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, recently headlined two fundraisers in the state. On Tuesday, Walz is expected to attend a fundraiser in Newport Beach, the same day that second gentleman Doug Emhoff raises money at an event in Los Angeles.
Susie Tompkins Buell, an attendee and co-founder of Esprit and The North Face who has known Harris since the 1990s, said she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such energy among Democrats, which she attributed to Harris' candidacy as well as the “danger to our country from within” posed by the prospect of Trump winning another term.
“Kamala’s youth and positive energy are like a breath of fresh air on a sweltering, humid day. They are so refreshing and hopeful,” said Tompkins Buell, whose husband served as Harris’ finance chairman during her campaigns for district attorney and attorney general.
“She has been an important part of our community for years,” she added. “I am very impressed by her consistency. She is very confident and her style has always been the same, only improved. It is all impressive.”
