Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign is scooping up Hillary Clinton’s deep-pocketed donors while nabbing some of her former staff as well.
A review of Harris’s recent fundraising circuit reveals a successful effort by the California senator to court rich Americans, particularly in California and Florida, who backed Clinton in 2016.
While New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has wooed Clinton donor Bernard Schwartz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar has done her own California tour, neither have held meetings and fundraisers on the coasts in the numbers that Harris has. Two other major candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have sworn off big-dollar donors of the type that funded Clinton.
Winning the early support of Democratic kingmakers assures that Harris’ campaign won’t burn off its finances early.
“Yes, it is true” that Clinton’s financial supporters are lining up behind Harris, a former Clinton campaign staffer told the Washington Examiner. “She’s spent a lot of time courting big bundlers. She’s very good in meetings, very charming.”
“Similarly to how Obama staffers and donors went to Clinton in 2016, you’re seeing a lot of that with Kamala’s campaign. With no Biden or [former Virginia Gov.] Terry McAuliffe in the race, a lot of Clinton donors are coming her way.”
On March 20, Hollywood director J.J. Abrams and his wife, producer Katie McGrath, hosted a $2,800-per-person dinner with Harris. In 2015, Abrams and his wife donated $1 million to Clinton’s super PAC and were both some of the most vocal supporters of hers in Hollywood, with Abrams penning an op-ed in February 2016 calling Clinton the “strongest candidate.”
Hollywood talent powerhouses Ari Emanuel and Chris Silbermann were also listed as co-hosts for the Abrams dinner, meaning they committed at least $10,000 for Harris. During Clinton’s presidential run, Silbermann hosted a similar fundraiser at his home with his wife that was co-hosted by others who raised at least $27,000 for her campaign.
Political consultant Jennifer Gonring was also listed as an attendee at the March 20 Harris dinner. She was another vocal Clinton supporter whose firm sent out newsletters in 2016 asking clients to support her White House bid in the primary.
Shonda Rhimes was listed as a co-chair for the fundraiser as well. The producer is best known as the creator of the biographical video that played right before Clinton’s acceptance speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
As Harris wooed other donors in California, she teamed up on fundraising with Amy Rhao, a Silicon Valley CEO who drummed up cash for Clinton extensively. Securing both Rhao and Clinton megadonor Susie Tompkins Buell, a personal friend of Clinton’s who has endorsed Harris, shows Harris is attempting to lock down Clinton’s California money network.
Tompkins Buell agreed that Clinton’s donors were coalescing behind Harris, telling the Washington Examiner that they viewed her as “very engaging.”
“She’s listening intensely [to donors] and very appreciative of this opportunity,” Tompkins Buell said.
Harris traveled to Miami in early March to meet with local lobbyist Alex Heckler for a fundraiser with his wife at their home. Heckler has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for high-profile Democrats like Clinton, Barack Obama, and McAuliffe.
Her trip to Florida wasn’t the first on the East Coast. In July 2017, Harris huddled with top Clinton donors in the Hamptons. That event included Clinton’s 2008 National Finance co-Chair Michael Kempner, along with donors Denis Mehiel and Steven Gambrel.
A number of her early staff hires further signal Harris’ plunge into Clinton World. Her own sister, Maya, will serve as campaign chair, but she was also a senior policy adviser to Clinton in 2015.
When her campaign kicked off, Harris announced that veteran Democratic strategist Averell “Ace” Smith would also be joining as a senior adviser. Some of his earliest work in politics was during former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, where Smith worked as an opposition researcher. Smith would later work as a state director in Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run.
Harris has also hired Laphonza Butler as a senior adviser. While little-known nationally, Butler’s history as the former president of the Service Employees International Union Local 2015 will prove vital in Harris’s effort to shore up union support during the primary. During the 2016 primary, the SEIU crucially endorsed Clinton over Sanders, despite the latter’s reputation as one of the most labor-friendly senators.
Marc Elias also serves as Harris’ 2020 general counsel, a role similar to the one he played in during Clinton’s last presidential run.
Other campaigns too have recruited heavily from the diaspora stunning from Clinton’s loss 2 1/2 years ago. Warren has hired Clinton staffers for posts in South Carolina and Iowa, while Sanders has hired a former Clinton staffer as his research chief.
