Top San Francisco Democrats Throw Their Support Behind Kamala Harris

On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, local Democratic leaders on Monday morning joined a rapidly swelling tide of support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee.

“Today was a remarkable show of unity from all facets of the San Francisco Democratic Party,” said Trevor Chandler, member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. “Every shade of blue, no matter our disagreements, came together with one voice to say that we support our local candidate, Kamala Harris, for president.”

Harris has a long history in San Francisco, where she was the first woman to serve as district attorney from 2004 to 2010. She was also the first African American and South Asian American woman in California to hold that office. She went on to become the state’s 32nd attorney general, serving in that role for six years.

Democratic leaders are pointing to that experience in supporting her presidential bid, and a nomination Harris is looking increasingly likely to lock up by next month’s Democratic National Convention.

“If anybody knows about unprecedented, it is Kamala Harris,” Chandler said. “She has won [election as] an unprecedented district attorney, an unprecedented attorney general and unprecedented vice president.”

Specifically, Chandler said that Harris’ record as attorney general and district attorney could help with Democrats’ messaging on crime and public safety.

“That includes making sure those who commit crimes are held accountable,” he said.

Rally attendees also said Harris is the most viable candidate to defeat former President Donald Trump.

“It’s so important that we overwhelmingly defeat Donald Trump during this election,” said Alan Wong, president of the City College of San Francisco board of trustees. “We all need to unite behind Kamala Harris.”

On Sunday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed called on city leaders to unify around Harris, saying civil rights for LGBTQ people, women and people of color are in peril if Democrats lose the White House.

“We cannot mess around with this opportunity; there is so much at stake,” she said. “I wish I could travel to battleground states and just go across the country and help elect Kamala Harris and whoever the vice presidential nominee will be so that we can continue to move our country, and especially our city here locally, in the right direction.”

A notable absence from Monday’s rally was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed Harris in a statement released Monday on social media platform X, noting their personal and political connection.

“Personally, I have known Kamala Harris for decades as rooted in strong values, faith and a commitment to public service,” she wrote. “Politically, make no mistake: Kamala Harris as a woman in politics is brilliantly astute — and I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.”

The endorsement from the San Francisco congresswoman, who remains one of the party’s most influential leaders and has a relationship with Harris dating back decades, ended some speculation about Pelosi’s stance in the hours since President Biden announced his intention to end his reelection campaign.

Biden’s decision drew admiration and gratitude from the San Francisco leaders at the rally.

“He so clearly prioritized his country over his own personal self-interest in a very respectable and honorable move, the kind of move that proves that he’s the leader that we deserved over the last four years and that Donald Trump never was and never will be,” said John Jersin, a lifelong Democrat and candidate for the San Francisco school board.

Local Democratic leaders said they’re hopeful that legacy will continue in Harris.

“This election is so important,” Wong said. “Whoever sits in the role of president, our fate will depend on that.”

KQED’s Samantha Lim contributed to this report.