‘The perfect package’: Kamala Harris’ SC backers mourn her exit from White House race
A week ago, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris stood in a room filled with 300 people at one of Columbia’s historically black universities, where applause rang out as she officially filed to get on the state’s Democratic primary ballot.
A year earlier, while helping S.C. Democrats run for office before she had announced her own candidacy, Harris — then seen as making an early and powerful entrance into the race — left a rural Hopkins auditorium to a swarm of voters angling to snap a selfie with her while sporadically shouting out “2020” and “Madam president.”
On Tuesday, Harris penned a 617-word Medium post announcing she was dropping out of the 2020 presidential race — leaving behind arguably one of the largest field operations and networks in the state from prominent Columbia black pastors to female activists.
“I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Harris wrote. “My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue. I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.”
Harris’ exit from the 2020 race has left some of her most devout backers in South Carolina devastated, even unsure of whether they will publicly back another candidate ahead of South Carolina’s pivotal “First in the South” Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 29.
“I loved her from the first moment I saw her,” said Florence attorney Marguerite Willis, who served as a co-chair on Harris’ S.C. campaign and ran for S.C. governor but lost in the June 2018 primary. “I think this race is a poor race without her.”
State Rep. JA Moore, a Democrat from Berkeley who was one of the first state legislators out the gate to back Harris for president — even going as far to file a bill based on her education platform — said Tuesday it was too soon to endorse another candidate.
“I decided to do everything I could to see Kamala get elected because of her commitment to fighting for justice and for the people,” said Moore, whose ultimate decision to endorse Harris was motivated by having a daughter. “Harris, through her leadership and through her mentorship of me, reinforced my commitment to fighting for justice, equal pay for women and opportunity for all.“
State Sen. John Scott, a Democrat from Richland and Harris supporter, said her candidacy was positive for the Democratic Party and will ultimately leave a lasting impact on the race — now 15 candidates, two of whom are African American and four of whom are women.
“We must still remember our No. 1” priority, Scott said. “That’s to regain the White House and take over the U.S. Senate.”
Harris’ lasting impact on SC
When Harris first campaigned in South Carolina, drawing energy around her when she introduced herself at a sorority fundraiser in Columbia this year, her supporters saw a candidate who would be tough to beat.
“I was drawn to her,” Willis recalled. “She brought a special dimension to the race. She was a child of immigrants. A woman. A person of color. She had real executive experience. I just thought she was the perfect package.”
But as more candidates entered the race, particularly with the late entry of former Vice President Joe Biden’s candidacy — the running mate to the country’s first black president — Harris saw the state’s black voters, the state’s key Democratic electorate, head elsewhere.
“In this campaign, the top polling people have been on the stage for decades — at least three of them,” Harris told S.C. supporters a week ago. “So, they’re well-known. I’m still introducing myself. We’re still introducing ourselves.”
What Harris brought to the South Carolina 2020 field was unique, said state party chairman Trav Robertson.
And, the Upstate native said he will be forever grateful for the work she put in for the state party.
“It’s no secret that in southern states, African American women have been a predominate leader in the Democratic Party,” Robertson said. “She was an inspiring candidate, especially to women of color. It’s unfortunate we will not be hearing her voice on the campaign (trail) or in the debates.”
Robertson said he doubts her exit from the race Tuesday will be the last time voters hear from her.
“My hope is we will see her back in South Carolina doing great things again,” Robertson said.
And should Harris choose to run again, she’ll have at least one of her earliest supporters by her side.
“I’m 75 now,” Bernice Scott, a former Richland County Council councilwoman, said Tuesday. Scott and her group, the Reckoning Crew, backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and also endorsed Harris. “She better hurry up. I’ll support her.”
If some S.C. Democratic voters get their way, an overwhelming number have told The State they would like to see Harris back in the state still campaigning, this time as a potential running mate to nominee Biden.
“I’d love to see them both on the same ticket,” said Jonathan Rice, 53, who attended a Harris town hall last month in Greenville with his wife, Shirley. “I really would.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 5:11 PM with the headline "‘The perfect package’: Kamala Harris’ SC backers mourn her exit from White House race."
