Kamala’s campaign has diverse senior staff
Something that’s been striking about Kamala’s campaign is her focus on diversity in her staff. A WSJ analysis last month showed that about 67% of her senior staff are people of color and about 60% are women, both ranking very highly among the 2020 field (the Castro and Sanders campaigns also rank highly in the WSJ analysis). I think this is intentional on her part, an embodiment of her mother’s instruction to make sure that she lifts up those following in her footsteps. Donald Trump’s senior staff has been overwhelmingly white men — can you imagine what a Kamala Harris administration would *look* like?
In particular, Kamala’s campaign is staffed and led by many women of color at the senior levels. And this has reflected in the kinds of policies that Kamala has focused on in the campaign, among them: equal pay for women, pay raises for teachers, protecting abortion rights and protecting and expanding immigrant rights. I’ll highlight a few of the prominent women of color running Kamala’s campaign.
Maya Harris — Campaign Chair
Earlier this month, Politico did a profile on Maya — Kamala’s sister, who is serving as the campaign chair. Maya has a long track record in progressive politics before leading her sister’s campaign. After being a law school dean (at age 29!) Maya went on to become the executive director of the ACLU of Northern California when she helped edit Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Maya later became a fellow at CAP where she wrote a policy paper in 2014 on the emergence of women of color in electoral politics. She was one of Hillary Clinton’s senior advisers and according to Politico:
Maya, who declined to be interviewed for this story, later headed up Clinton’s platform committee, a group composed of people aligned with the 2016 Democratic nominee as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders. The draft included language opposing the death penalty and calling for legislation similar to the largely repealed Glass-Steagall financial laws. Maya, who worked alongside Sanders’ policy director Warren Gunnels, at the time called it “the most ambitious and progressive platform our party has ever seen.”
Reflecting on internal Clinton policy discussions, Moore said Maya would often raise the possibility of unintended consequences when a particular position was floated as the obvious choice.
“Sometimes that wreaks havoc and people don’t like it. People don’t want to be questioned,” she added of her friend. “But her unique combination of being a lawyer, a policy wonk, and understanding politics causes her to be a lot more layered than people give her credit for.”
Maya and her sister have an endearing relationship.
Joking around offstage at a 2012 Daily Beast event, Maya rolled her eyes at her sister’s fancy title.
“When she was elected attorney general, she actually said ‘you realize you’re going to have to start calling me General Harris.’ So my feeling is, when she’s elected president of the United States, I will call her Ms. President,” Maya joked as her sister tried to wave her off the topic. “But until then, you’re just Kamala.”
“No, I’m big sister,” Kamala replied with a grin. “Big sister General.”
The two exploded in laughter.
Laphonza Butler — Senior Adviser
Laphonza Butler is a long time labor leader in the SEIU, having joined the SEIU in 2001 and risen to President of SEIU Local 2015 (California) and a Vice-President of SEIU International. She was tapped as a potential future President of the national SEIU, however she left the SEIU at the end of 2018, in order to join the world of electoral politics (and to become a senior adviser on Kamala’s campaign). Among Butler’s accomplishments at the SEIU
Under Butler’s leadership, California long term care workers have won significant victories including the passage of mandatory CNA staffing levels in nursing homes; the right to sick pay, overtime, wait time, and travel time for home care providers; withstanding the attack by the US Supreme Court decision of Harris v. Quinn; giving thousands of additional workers a voice on the job; and winning strong contracts for hundreds of thousands of caregivers who provide vital care to our seniors and people with disabilities.
In addition to advancing the lives of caregivers, Butler led in the fight to improve conditions for all working families. Such accomplishments include the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act and expansion of MediCal to cover millions more Californians; the passage of Propositions 47 and 57 which help restore justice, dignity and real second chances to those caught in the criminal justice system; and a pivotal role in making California the first state in the nation to pass a $15 statewide minimum wage – a victory that would improve the lives of the over 6 million Californians.
Emmy Ruiz — Senior Adviser
Ruiz has won a lot of acclaim in the political world due to her mastery of Nevada politics — she’s organized Nevada for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to much success. Ruiz has a long a deep history working with progressive organizations:
Emmy serves on multiple boards of progressive organizations including: Annie’s List, Run for Something, Be a Hero Advisory Board, Pipeline Initiative Advisory Board, Arena Advisory Board, She the People Advisory Board, DigiDems Advisory Board, Inclusv Advisory Board, UltraViolet, National Democratic Redistricting Committee Advisory Board, and Emerge America Advisory Board. She also serves on the Executive Committee, Rules & Bylaws of the Democratic National Committee.
She was stunned at the diversity on Kamala’s team when she was first hired:
Harris senior adviser Emmy Ruiz hasn't experienced this before in national politics. "I remember the first meeting I ever walked into," says Ruiz, recalling her start in the Harris campaign after she was hired in February. "I was surprised. I was taken aback. It was the most diverse room I've ever walked into in politics, and I've been a proud member of many diverse teams in politics."
Missayr Boker — Co-National Political Director
Boker comes to Kamala’s campaign from the DSCC where she was campaign director in the 2018 cycle. Before that, she was assistant political director at NARAL and had worked at NARAL for 5 years. This video she made in 2016 while at NARAL speaks to how important she sees abortion rights.
Julie Rodriguez — Co-National Political Director
Along with Boker, Julie Rodriguez is Kamala’s co-National Political Director. Before she joined the campaign, she was Kamala’s Senate Office’s state director for California. Indeed, she has long ties to the state of California — her grandfather is the legendary Cesar Chavez. Rodriguez also served at various levels of the Obama administration.
Jalisa Washington-Price — Deputy National Political Director, SC state director
Perhaps showing just how important Kamala’s campaign sees the state of South Carolina, Jalisa Washington-Price is not only the state director there, but she’s also deputy national political director. The Boston Globe did a feature on the black women running many 2020 South Carolina campaigns, and they led off with Washington-Price:
When she was a young girl, politics was everyday life for Jalisa Washington-Price. Her grandmother was one of the first black people elected to the Richland County Council, and weekends in the 1990s meant a constant flow of campaign events and community meetings.
Immersed in that world so early, she longed for a career on the big stage in the nation’s capital. After a successful run as the political director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in South Carolina in 2016, Washington-Price landed her dream job at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C.
But now, with the largest field of presidential candidates ever and South Carolina’s primary looming as a crucial early contest, the 30-year-old is back home — this time leading the campaign for California Senator Kamala Harris and running events like those she used to attend with her grandmother.
Joyce Kazadi
Kazadi is Kamala’s National Director of Advance — she’s the one who makes sure events come off great. Remember Kamala’s 22,000 person launch event in Oakland? Kazadi helped organize that.
At Senator Harris’s launch event in Oakland, Joyce had her first one-on-one time with the senator. “We were going over her speech and I just kept telling her she was going to do great. I felt like I had to calm her down. But I didn’t know her well—I didn’t know her at all! I put my hand on her shoulder and said, ‘Everything’s gonna be great. The people are going to wait for you. You let me know when you’re ready.’ Then she went onstage and she killed it.”
As National Advance director, Kazadi is often on the ground at events and right at Kamala’s side. Her twitter feed is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the campaign:
Of course, this focus on diversity is just who Kamala Harris is. She would be the first President who went to an HBCU, and she’s leaning into her personal history on the campaign, recently launching dedicated outreach to HBCU communities.
It’s no surprise then that many voters, especially women of color, can see themselves in Kamala’s campaign.
Endorsements
Just this week, Kamala has picked up the endorsement of three members of congress: Jim Costa (CA), Al Green (TX) and just this morning, Alcee Hastings (FL)!
Al Green and Alcee Hastings are both CBC members and the first representatives outside of California who have endorsed Kamala. Perhaps Kamala’s investment in a diverse staff and policy proposals stemming from that diverse staff, is starting to pay off.
There are about 70 million reasons to support Kamala Harris for President!
Newpioneer has rounded up some highlights of her sponsored legislation here.
snowman3 has rounded up some more legislative highlights here.
Want to know more about her positions and plans? Her policy page is Our America.
Or go straight to an issue: quality, affordable health care for all, economic justice,raising teacher pay, combating the climate crisis, criminal justice reform, action on gun violence, a fair and just immigration system, LGBTQ+ equality, government for the people, debt-free college and student debt, gender equality, American leadership at home and abroad, and fighting for racial justice.
Please remember to visit our community group page Kamala2020 and give us a follow! That way all our group efforts will appear in your stream; this makes it easy for everyone to keep up with our latest posts. As always, any who would like to join our group please leave us a comment and we’ll get your invitation right out to you!
If you’d like to volunteer to host one of our Kamala 2020 diaries, please leave your comment in the ”Calling all Volunteers”thread.
Even if you can’t commit to a weekly spot due to your busy schedules, guest bloggers are always welcomed!
This week’s schedule
Please volunteer! Come share your story about why you support Kamala!
Friday, June 21 — snowman3
Saturday, June 22 —rflctammt
Sunday, June 23—Dfh1
Monday, June 24 — Onomastic
Tuesday, June 25 —
Wednesday, June 26 — Cecelia S
Thursday, June 27 -
Let your voices be heard!
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Group Guidelines
The Kamala2020 community group has been created to positively support Senator Kamala Harris, and not to engage in negativity towards other Democrats running in the 2020 primaries.
All should be made to feel welcomed here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
I’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Kamala’s bid for the nomination, that we not respond to negativity from other campaign’s supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace. Recipes and cat pics work, too 😃
Doing no harm costs us nothing... pie-fights will cost us everything.
Upcoming Events:
June 21: Kamala will be at Rep Clyburn’s Fish Fry in Columbia, South Carolina
June 22: Kamala will participate in Planned Parenthood’s forum on reproductive rights in Columbia, South Carolina.
June 26-27: The first debates will be held in Miami, Florida, and will be broadcast live on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. Kamala Harris will be in the June 27 group.
June 30: March with Kamala Harris at SF Pride
July 3-5: Kamala will be in Iowa campaigning, with stops in Sioux City, Des Moines, Indianola and Council Bluffs.
July 5: Kamala will be at the National Education Association forum in Houston, Texas
July 16: Kamala will be at the AARP/Des Moines Register forum in Davenport, Iowa.
July 30-31: The second debates will be held on July 30th and 31st in Detroit, Michigan, and will be broadcast live on CNN.
Sept 12-13: The third debates will be held on September 12th and 13th, and will be broadcast by ABC and Univision.
