California could soon have its first female attorney general

It’s been five years since I lived in California, but I continue to keep a close eye on politics in the Golden State and one primary reason for that interest is Kamala Harris. 


Harris snagged the primary for the bid to become attorney general of California. If she wins she will be first woman and first person of color elected Attorney General of California.


A friend of mine has worked closely with Harris for years, which means she’s seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of this candidate. Yet through it all she remains inspired by and supportive of Harris and her political career. I believe that says a lot about a public servant. 


Here’s a summary of her acceptance speech from the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s political blog :

“I do humbly accept the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of California,” she  said.

She praised good ideas that her fellow Democrats raised during the primary around fighting gang crime, corporate greed and fraud, protecting kids and the environment.

‘It’s been an honor to work with you,” Harris said, promising to call her opponents, “to ask you to help us put those great ideas to work.”

Then she talked about getting “tough and smart on crime” by addressing gang crime, but also focusing on early intervention and truancy.

She talked about cracking down on predatory lenders, supporting health care reform, and protecting California’s environment.

“When the President passed healthcare reform, it was the right thing to do,” Harris said. “People deserve to have medical care when they need it. The Attorney General has got to stand up and support that. It must be the work of the next Attorney General to ensure that the disaster and tragedy that happened in the Gulf of Mexico never happens in California,” she said, warning of attacks on AB 32, which set California’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal into law in 2006.”

And she described her campaign touching down in Modesto, Bakersfield, Oakland and Palo Alto and stretching from “grassroots to net roots.”