Vice President Kamala Harris returns home to Bay Area for private fundraiser
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Vice President Kamala Harris back home in the Bay Area and hosting her first major fundraising event in California in San Francisco on Sunday morning. Her presumptive V.P. pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz., is expected to be in the Bay Area, too.
Tickets range from $3,000 to $500,000.
Many Bay Area politicians are backing them.
"Look, as a Californian, couldn't be more proud! Couldn't be more excited at the prospects of a President Harris. I am all in!," says U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, who attended a transportation event in San Francisco on Saturday.
He will be among the many looking to Harris-Walz to lead the country for the next four years, including Representative Barbara Lee, who spoke to ABC7 News on Friday.
"Born in Oakland, raised in Berkeley. I'll be there. Looking forward to seeing her. She is doing a phenomenal job. And if we do the work, she will be the next President of the United States," says Lee.
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From San Francisco District Attorney to California Attorney General to U.S. Senator and now Vice President, Professor Nolan Higdon says Harris is on friendly territory, tapping into a familiar and wealthy donor base.
"Just two, three weeks ago, democrats assumed that Donald Trump was going to take the White House, and focusing on Congress. Whether or not the republicans were going to take over Congress. There was a lot of fear within the party and the donor base that supports the party," explains Higdon.
He says Harris is building on the enthusiasm her campaign has ignited, sparked by the addition of Walz. They are hoping to turn enthusiasm into big dollar donations.
"So Harris, despite the fact that she had low approval ratings, and there was a lot of doubt behind the scenes about her, she is seen as game changer," says Higdon.
MORE: Watch Kamala Harris' journey from Berkeley to be 1st Black, Asian woman elected to vice presidency
But not all are as enthusiastic. Protests are plan for Sunday lead by pro Palestinian supporters who have taken to the street across the Bay Area for the past 10 months.
"A lot of groups like the Uncommitted Movement and the Abandon Biden Movement are also really pushing her to come out with policy platform that includes an arms embargo against Israel to end the genocide in Gaza," says Nadia Rahman, a longtime political activist in San Francisco. Rahman previously led the San Francisco Women's Political Committee. She even volunteered for Biden's 2020 campaign.
She thinks Harris and Walz can win in November. But she say they can't ignore the undecided voters and the swing states, which is what she says landed Biden in trouble.
"Money is not going to be the deciding factor in who becomes president following the November election. It's honestly going to come down to issues, like the arms embargo with Israel," says Rahman.
MORE: Tim Walz's love for San Francisco highlights California-Minnesota connection
"Voters are curious about words, but really what they are looking at - for all of the candidates for - is action," says Zahra Billoo, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
She points to a rally earlier in the week where Harris was criticized for how she responded to a pro-Palestinian activist. And Biden-Harris administration expedited an additional $3.5 billion in military aid to Israel.
"So voters are looking to Vice President Harris, as well as former President Trump, and the entire field of candidates," says Billoo. "And they are saying, 'We hear you when you say things. What we want is voters is action.' And that's ultimately what's going to determine how people turnout to the poles this November."
