How Harris’s first presidential run flamed out

Vice President Kamala Harris has been endorsed by President Joe Biden to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in November, but the last time she ran for the top of the ticket, she flamed out before a single vote had been cast.

Biden announced he would not continue his reelection campaign on Sunday and said his running mate, Harris, should be the party’s nominee. With Biden’s blessing and the backing of several key Democrats, Harris appears likely to be the Democratic nominee in November, but the last time she ran for president, in a crowded Democratic primary in 2020, the results were disastrous.

Harris, then the junior senator from California, announced her 2020 run for president on Jan. 21, 2019, after only two years on Capitol Hill. She had served as California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017 before being elected to the Senate in November 2016. In the Senate election, Harris faced off against a Democratic opponent in the general election due to California’s primary rules, which call for the top two primary finishers, regardless of party, to advance to the general election.

Harris had her top campaign moment during a Democratic debate in June 2019, when she hit Biden for his previous opposition to busing as a means to end racial segregation, invoking her own personal experience.

“I will direct this at Vice President Biden. I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but I also believe — and it’s personal, and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” Harris said.

“It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day,” she said. “That little girl was me.”

Biden attempted to respond but cut himself off prematurely to say that his time was up. The moment was the standout from the debate, with Harris’s campaign selling merchandise around the line, “That little girl was me.” She rose in the polls following the debate, momentarily moving into second place in the RealClearPolitics polling average in July.

After the high with her June debate, Harris would struggle to continue the momentum and would tank in the polls and fundraising. Her momentum was stunted by an exchange during a debate at the end of July when then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ripped into Harris’s record as a prosecutor.

“There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence, she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so,” Gabbard said at the July debate to Harris.

“She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way,” Gabbard added.

Harris responded by trying to spin her record as a prosecutor as championing reform, but the damage by Gabbard had been done.

The California senator also had moments where she flip-flopped on policies, most notably on her proposals for healthcare.

By November 2019, Harris’s campaign was bleeding money, and she closed her New Hampshire offices to focus on the Iowa caucuses. At the end of the third quarter in 2019, she was spending 122.9% of all dollars donated. Harris would drop out of the race on Dec. 3, saying her campaign “simply doesn’t have the financial resources” to continue.

For her 2024 bid, Harris has garnered the support of several key Democrats, including Biden, former President Bill Clinton, ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and other prominent party leaders.

The Democratic Party will nominate its ticket at its August convention in Chicago.