Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign

Kamala Harris for the People
File:Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign logo.svg
Campaign	2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)
Candidate	Kamala Harris U.S. Senator from California (2017–present) Attorney General of California (2011–2017) District Attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011)
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Status	Announced: January 21, 2019 Formal launch: January 27, 2019
Headquarters	Baltimore, Maryland (national) Oakland, California (West Coast)
Key people	Maya Harris (campaign chair) Juan Rodriguez (campaign manager) Lily Adams (national communications director) Ian Sams (national press secretary) Marc Elias (general counsel) Angelique Cannon (national finance director) Sean Clegg (senior advisor) Laphonza Butler (senior advisor) Averell Smith (senior advisor) David Huynh (senior advisor) David Binder (pollster)
Slogan	For the People
Website
www.kamalaharris.org

The 2020 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris officially began on January 21, 2019. Harris, the junior United States Senator from California, has been considered a high profile candidate for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries since 2016.

Background

Following the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Harris was named as part of the "Hell-No Caucus" by Politico in 2018, along with Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, given she voted "overwhelmingly to thwart his [Trump's] nominees for administration jobs", such as with Rex Tillerson, Betsy DeVos and Mike Pompeo; all of the Senators in this group were considered potential 2020 presidential contenders at this point in time. Prior to announcing her candidacy, she had publicly stated that she is "not ruling it out". In December 2018, Harris announced that she planned on considering whether to run for president "over the holiday." The following month, it was confirmed that Harris was expected to make an official announcement around Martin Luther King Jr. Day regarding the 2020 election.

Harris was the sixth office-holding Democrat to formally announce a campaign in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, joining Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Campaigning

Announcement

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019, January 21, Harris announced on Good Morning America that she would be seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Campaign headquarters will be in Baltimore, Maryland, with a second office in Oakland, California.

Within 24 hours of the announcement, her campaign received over $1.5 million in small donor donations from all 50 states. At the time, this record amount tied with the one set by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders during the 2016 election. This record was subsequently broken by Sanders when he announced a second campaign for the presidency. Sanders beat Harris' total first-day fundrasing amount about four hours after announcing his campaign.

An overflow crowd of over 20,000 people attended her formal campaign kickoff event at Frank Ogawa Plaza in her hometown of Oakland, California, on January 27. Numerous commentators noted that there were more attendees at Harris's kickoff event than Barack Obama's first presidential campaign kickoff in Springfield, Illinois, in 2007.

Early campaigning

On January 28, a day after her official kickoff, Harris received the endorsement of Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33), a fellow Californian and co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. That same day, Harris introduced herself as a 2020 presidential candidate in a CNN town hall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

On February 7, Harris unveiled endorsements from three-quarters of the Democratic delegation in the California State Senate.

Historical significance

File:Shirley Chisholm for President "Catalyst for Change".jpg

A Shirley Chisholm button, whose typography Harris paid tribute to in her campaign.

Harris is the third African-American woman to seek the Democratic nomination for president, the first two being U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm in 1972 and U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun in 2004 (the latter of whom is also the only other black woman to have ever served in the U.S. Senate). Harris launched her presidential campaign forty-seven years to the day after Chisholm's presidential campaign. Harris paid homage to Chisholm's campaign by using a similar color scheme and typography in her own campaign's promotional materials and logo.

Political positions

Crime

Harris supports tougher legislation and action to prevent gun violence. For example, she supports universal background checks for people looking to purchase firearms and a ban on "assault weapons."

Harris supports legalizing recreational marijuana at the federal level. She had previously opposed legalization and had laughed about her 2014 Attorney General Republican opponent supporting it. During an interview on The Breakfast Club in February 2019, she strongly affirmed her support for recreational cannabis, saying that "it gives a lot of people joy." At the same time, she called for more research into marijuana's potentially harmful effects on the brain and for regulation that would restrict driving while under the influence of the drug. In the same interview, Harris likened familiarity with cannabis to Jamaican culture, a statement that was subsequently denounced by her father.

Economics

Harris claims to support the idea of a tax plan that would lower taxes on the middle class while raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. She has criticized the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and says that she would fund her own tax bill by repealing parts of the TCJA.

Harris supports raising the hourly minimum wage to $15.

Environment

During her time as San Francisco District Attorney, Harris created the Environmental Justice Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and prosecuted several industries and individuals for pollution, most notably U-Haul, Alameda Publishing Corporation, and the Cosco Busan oil spill. She also advocated for strong enforcement of environmental protection laws.

In September 2018, Harris was one of eight senators to sponsor the Climate Risk Disclosure Act, a bill described by cosponsor Elizabeth Warren as using "market forces to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy — reducing the odds of an environmental and financial disaster without spending a dime of taxpayer money."

In her campaign, Harris supports a "Green New Deal", an idea popularized by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Health care

Harris supports a universal health care system based on the existing Medicare program, which would eventually cover all Americans. Harris has also called for a total end to private health insurance. Harris later reversed her position on this, with an adviser stating that she is open to "more moderate health reform plans, which would preserve the industry."

Immigration

Harris is opposed to constructing a wall along the border with Mexico, as proposed by President Trump. She also claims that she will protect DACA recipients from deportation.

Endorsements

List of political endorsements

Governors Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) U.S. Representatives Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA) Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and whip of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Statewide officeholders California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D-CA) Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D-CA) Treasurer Fiona Ma (D-CA) Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D-CA) Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond (D-CA) District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D-DC), co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association Massachusetts Fmr. Attorney General Martha Coakley (D-MA) (2007–15) State legislators California Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) Senate Majority Leader Bill Monning (D-Carmel) Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) Sen. Richard Roth (D-Riverside) Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) Assembly Majority Whip Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) Georgia Rep. Erick Allen (D-Smyrna) Maryland Del. Robbyn Lewis (D-Baltimore) Nevada Sen. Pat Spearman (D-North Las Vegas) South Carolina Sen. Darrell Jackson (D-Hopkins) Rep. Pat Henegan (D-Marlboro) Rep. J.A. Moore (D-Goose Creek) Tennessee Rep. London Lamar (D-Memphis) Mayors Mayor Aja Brown (D-Compton) Mayor Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) Mayor Libby Schaaf (D-Oakland) Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) Mayor London Breed (D-San Francisco) Mayor Sam Liccardo (D-San Jose) Local officials California Lateefah Simon, Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District from District 7 since 2016 Carole Ward Allen, former Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District from District 4 (1998-2010) Maryland Montgomery County Councilmember At Large Will Jawando Texas Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis (D-Precinct 1) Diplomats and bureaucrats Former U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West (2012–2014), Harris's brother-in-law Democratic Party figures Deidre DeJear, 2018 Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Iowa Bob Mulholland, DNC member (CA) Melissa Watson, Berkeley County Democratic Chairwoman (SC) Marguerite Willis, 2018 candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of South Carolina Individuals Scott Derrickson, film director Marc Elias, attorney Maya Harris, lawyer, public policy advocate, and television commentator; Harris' sister, and campaign chair Dolores Huerta, labor leader, activist, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Holly Robinson Peete, actress Pauley Perrette, actress Rickey Smiley, stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality Averell Smith, political adviser Rosie O'Donnell, comedian, television host, actor