SAN FRANCISCO — Riding the momentum of a cross-country swing state tour with her newly minted running mate Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris rolled into her home state to address a crowd of major Bay Area donors and California politicians at a fundraiser Sunday.
“There are two very different visions for our nation. One that’s focused on our future, and one that’s focused on the past,” Harris told the crowd of 700 at the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. “Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom.”
The sold-out event, the first fundraiser that Harris has attended in the Bay Area since she rose to the top of the Democratic Party ticket in July, raised more than $12 million, according to a campaign official. Tickets ranged between $3,300 and $50,000. Donors of $500,000 could be named as a chair of the event.
In her speech, the vice president took aim at her opponent, former President Donald Trump, and Project 2025, the vast set of policy proposals put together by conservative groups that would reshape the government and expand presidential powers if he were re-elected.
“Can you believe they put that thing in writing?” she said.
Harris garnered raucous applause when she mentioned abortion rights, vowing to sign protections for Roe vs. Wade into law as president and telling the crowd, “We trust women to know what is in their own best interest.”
The speech focused exclusively on domestic policy, with no mention by Harris of the war in Gaza, even as some 120 protesters gathered on the streets outside of the Fairmont, demanding that she “stop the genocide.”
Inside, many of California’s top Democrats were in attendance, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom Harris thanked for being “an extraordinary leader for California,” as well as U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and California Assemblymember and U.S. House of Representatives candidate Evan Low. Local San Francisco politicians, including Mayor London Breed and her challenger, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, were also in the crowd. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co-founder of DreamWorks and co-chair of Harris’ campaign, was among the donors present.
Harris was introduced to the stage by House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who worked behind the scenes to encourage Biden to step aside and cleared the path for the vice president’s ascension. Pelosi urged the crowd to “own the ground with our mobilization.”
“We don’t want to have any regrets the day after the election that we could have done that much more,” she said. “Democracy is on the ballot.”
As Harris ended her speech, the crowd rushed to the stage, phones outstretched for a photo with their hometown candidate. One of the few lucky who’d gotten close enough for a handshake clutched her wrist as she walked out of the Grand Ballroom.
“I’m never washing this hand!” she said, beaming.
Harris has been on a fundraising tear in recent weeks, bringing in $310 million in July, fueled by a surge of donations after President Joe Biden dropped his bid for re-election. On top of that, she also pulled in $36 million in the 24 hours after announcing Minnesota Gov. Walz as her running mate. (Walz did not attend Sunday’s event, despite earlier reports that he might appear alongside Harris.)
Polls show the vice president taking a small lead over former President Trump. A New York Times/Siena College poll conducted this week found Harris beating Trump 50% to 46% in the key swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — although those leads fall within the survey’s margin of error.
Here in the Bay Area, Harris’ rapid rise to the candidacy has renewed energy among Democratic supporters and donors fatigued at the prospects of another Biden-Trump rematch.
Earlier this week, a group of Silicon Valley investors called “VCs for Kamala” received pledges of nearly $150,000 for the Harris campaign. The call included donors such as Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn who also was at the Sunday fundraiser, and billionaire investor Ron Conway, the New York Times reported.
With just shy of three months to go before the November election, the Harris campaign has kicked its campaigning efforts into high gear. The night before her San Francisco fundraiser, Harris spoke to a crowd of more than 12,000 people in Las Vegas — her fifth rally in five days — where she pledged to end federal taxes on tips if elected. It followed a similar proposal by Trump made two months earlier — a fact which he was quick to point out on social media, calling her “copy cat Kamala.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign schedule is relatively quieter. On Thursday, he said that he wouldn’t make an appearance at any rallies until after the Democratic National Convention, which ends Aug. 22.
The convention will cap a whirlwind August campaign schedule for Harris and Walz. It remains to be seen, though, whether the candidates can sustain Democrats’ enthusiasm into November.
In the Bay Area, another fundraiser is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Mill Valley, although neither Harris nor Walz are expected to make an appearance.
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