Do we like Kamala Harris?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A strong, long LGBTQ+ record with one contested prison-care filing, plus old staff complaints that remain alleged and unresolved.
Harris built her career as a prosecutor and then a lawmaker: San Francisco district attorney from 2003, California attorney general, US senator, then Vice President. Early on she was part of conducting same-sex marriages in 2004, which she called “one of the most joyful” moments of her career.
After the 2024 loss she wrote 107 Days, which called Joe Biden's bid for a second term reckless and caused a stoush with his camp. She extended the book tour and, on a podcast late last year, said she had made no decisions about 2028. Axios reported she was stepping toward a run.
The harm check is mostly good news for a LGBTQ+ reader. As attorney general she declined to defend the Prop 8 marriage ban, as senator she scored 100 with the Human Rights Campaign and co-sponsored the Equality Act, and as VP she was at the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act signing. Nothing turned up on conspiracy theories or grievance-peddling, and no dodgy company.
On how she treats people, a 2021 Washington Examiner piece, a conservative outlet, reported former aides alleging a hostile work environment, with complaints it said went back to her San Francisco days. The page we could read didn't carry her side, though her office reportedly denied it elsewhere. That's allegation, not a finding, and it's old.
The recent bit: Harris has been stumping for Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, Nevada's Aaron Ford and Georgia's Jon Ossoff. In February she urged voters to “put guardrails up” on Trump in November. Not everyone wants her around, and Gavin Newsom has said he wouldn't seek the nomination if she runs.
Her honesty record is a mixed bag, like most politicians. PolitiFact lists 67 rated claims: 28 True or Mostly True, 11 Half True and 28 Mostly False or False. The immigration claim was rated True, the fentanyl one False.