After a week of festivities in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, many delegates and lawmakers from California celebrated the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while critics said voters have yet to learn about Harris’s political agenda.
“It’s been a memorable experience, especially for all of us in California who’ve had the privilege of working with the vice president for so many years,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg told The Epoch Times. “It’s a great source of pride, and it was a flawless convention.”
He said Harris’s performance during her acceptance speech will help introduce her character to a broad audience.
“She showed what we’ve always known about her—such strength and conviction,” Steinberg said.
A prospective Harris presidency could benefit the Golden State, he said.
“For California, it would be great to have someone who knows California and believes in California as president,” Steinberg said. “For the nation ... she would fight for the middle class and the people, and I love the fact that she’s putting housing on the national agenda.”
A state senator in his final term in office said history was made at the convention.
“Without a doubt it’s an historic moment,” state Sen. Steven Bradford told The Epoch Times. He said he was excited that a black woman had been selected as the presidential nominee.
He said Harris will help usher in a list of priorities that he believes will benefit the Golden State and the nation.
“It will bring forth all of the things that we fight for—a livable wage, quality education, criminal justice system that’s been reformed, a border policy that’s fair and equitable, women’s rights,” Bradford said. “All those things that California needs at this time.”
A delegate from the Central Valley near Merced said it felt “like being at Disneyland” seeing all the smiling faces and VIPs in the audience and called the moment “truly historic.”
“This is electric like when Obama was elected in 2008,” Nicola Adams, a delegate from the Central Valley near Merced, told The Epoch Times.
Honey Mahogany, a first-time delegate and former chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, said the combination of Harris and Walz is energizing prospective voters.
Push for Media Availability
Meanwhile, Republicans are questioning Harris’s stance on criminal justice policies, including her thoughts on Proposition 47—passed by voters in 2014 to reduce prison populations by changing some felony drug and theft crimes to misdemeanors—and whether she supports the death penalty, stricter penalties for the rape of an unconscious person, and child sex trafficking.Some critics, including the campaign of former President Donald Trump, are pushing for Harris to face the press and answer questions about her record and policy beliefs.
Dozens of Californians on social media are also calling for voters to cast their ballots for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to protest what they say are issues plaguing the Harris campaign—including California’s high cost of living, homelessness, and lack of consequences for criminal activity. Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and backed Trump on Aug. 23, the day after the Democratic convention ended.
Additionally, some pro-Palestinian protesters who traveled from California to Chicago to march outside the security perimeter during the convention said they’re disappointed in Harris’s support for the war in Gaza—which erupted after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We’re here demanding an end to the war and to warn people about the current administration—which includes Kamala Harris—and their support for a war which is causing death and destruction,” one masked protester, who identified himself as John, told The Epoch Times.
