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With the Democratic establishment 鈥斅爄n Maryland and across the country 鈥斅爍uickly coalescing around Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Biden at the top of the White House ticket, it鈥檚 easy to forget that her first foray into presidential politics, in 2019, wasn鈥檛 nearly as triumphal. But she had a hardy band of supporters in Maryland then who are reveling in the moment now.
鈥淪ometimes I know what I鈥檓 talking about,鈥� Prince George鈥檚 County Council Member Wanika Fisher (D), an early Harris supporter, joked recently.
Harris, then a first-term U.S. senator from California, entered the 2020 presidential race to great fanfare in her hometown of Oakland, with a raucous well-attended rally in late January. By the end of the year, she was out of the race.
That was hardly a disgrace: Two dozen credible Democrats, from Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet to finance bro Andrew Yang, sought the White House nomination, and many flamed out quickly. By the time the filing deadline for the 2020 Maryland presidential primary rolled around, only 14 Democrats made it to the ballot, and by the time the primary took place on June 2, Biden was already the presumptive nominee.
But Harris鈥� history-making bid attracted some passionate supporters in Maryland. And for a period, Harris notably established a beachhead in downtown Baltimore, where her campaign opened a second headquarters in an office building on South Charles Street 鈥斅爄n part, her advisers said at the time, because Charm City resembled Oakland, where the main headquarters was.
So who was part of the Maryland #KHive five years ago?
Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) was a supporter 鈥斅燼nd in fact had been tracking Harris鈥� political career on social media since before she had even been elected to the Senate, in 2016. State Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City) was also a supporter.
So was then-state Comptroller Peter Franchot聽鈥斅爐he epitome of an anti-machine Democrat at the time 鈥斅爓ho said in a social media post after one of the Democratic candidate debates that in an impressive field, Harris was 鈥渢he most presidential.鈥�
For Fisher, who was a freshman in the House of Delegates during Harris鈥� first presidential bid, the connection with the vice president runs deep 鈥斅燼nd is both professional and personal.
Fisher, like Harris, is the daughter of immigrants, and is half-Black and half-Asian. Maryland Secretary of State Susan C. Lee once called Fisher 鈥渢he Kamala of Maryland.鈥�
鈥淲e share the same journey,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e both former prosecutors. We share the same sorority [Alpha Kappa Alpha]. We have the same ethnicity. Growing up, I never imagined that anyone like Kamala or me could succeed in politics. We鈥檙e a place where dreams come true. That鈥檚 how I鈥檓 feeling about Kamala right now.鈥�
Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate and another former prosecutor, as a professional mentor and personal friend, and they have campaigned together over the years in California and in Maryland. In 2019, Alsobrooks and her teenaged daughter traveled to Detroit, site of a televised Democratic presidential debate, to provide Harris with moral support.
Alsobrooks has already parlayed her relationship with Harris into a speaking gig at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, with the details yet to come. Harris, she said this week,聽鈥渨ill provide a clear and stark contrast to the regressive vision Donald Trump has for this country. She will make this race about the future and the kind of country our children deserve to inherit. Each and every one of us deserves that kind of leader.鈥�
Beyond elected leaders, Harris鈥� presidential campaign benefited from the sweat and wisdom of some local political strategists.
Martha McKenna, the Baltimore-based Democratic media consultant and co-founder of the powerhouse Democratic group Emerge Maryland, cut TV ads for Harris鈥� 2016 Senate campaign. It 鈥渨as a terrific experience,鈥� she recalled.
While McKenna remained officially neutral in the 2020 White House primary, she lobbied Harris鈥� presidential campaign to open a headquarters in Baltimore and hosted a happy hour for Harris鈥� Baltimore-based campaign staff to meet local politicos.
Bill White, who had been a lobbyist with the Annapolis-based firm Capitol Strategies and previously had been the 2018 campaign manager for state Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel), joined the Harris campaign as a national ballot access coordinator. While he was based in the Baltimore headquarters, he spent a lot of time on the road for the campaign.
Patrick Denny was a Baltimore-based fundraiser for the Harris campaign in 2019. He used those Maryland connections to become finance director of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D).
It was a smallish band of supporters then. But now almost every Democratic leader in Maryland is all-in for Harris.
Fisher said the vice president can appeal to voters on many levels, not just as a woman of color. She was a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage as California attorney general and as a prosecutor in San Francisco, Fisher said. She was an early advocate for re-entry programs and accountability in the criminal justice system.
And in a society, that鈥檚 ever more diverse, Harris鈥� interracial marriage, with loving step-children and religious diversity, is a sign of encouragement to many voters 鈥渁nd the new American family,鈥� Fisher said, in a country where the 鈥�1950鈥檚, white-picket fence notion of families鈥� is no longer commonplace.
鈥淜amala didn鈥檛 come out of nowhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he knew things and worked hard and was a leader.鈥�
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