Sen. Kamala Harris has officially dropped out of the presidential race. There are seriously mixed reactions to the former prosecutor who had an uphill battle due to her past as a District Attorney and an Attorney General.
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She the People, an advocacy group for women of color in politics, released the following statement, “The Democratic field became much less diverse today, after the only Black woman in the presidential race dropped out. It was evident when Sen. Kamala Harris launched her campaign that she would be a formidable contender for the White House — one who was able to attract a multiracial and enthusiastic base that would fuel her historic bid.”
The statement also added, “Kamala’s presence in the race helped blaze a trail for the next generation of women of color. She ran a competitive campaign that has forced us to re-think what it means to be electable. But, her journey is not over. ”
Activist and writer Sally Kohn pointed out how bizarre it is that Mayor Pete is still in the race but Harris isn’t, “Obviously I’m no centrist but it’s downright effed up that smart, compelling, *very* experienced, centrist Democratic candidates of color are floundering while a smart but wildly inexperienced, centrist white mayor of teeny tiny city is surging. Bad look, Democrats.”
While Harris surged when she announced in February, her past — for better or for worse — haunted her. For example, Harris, the former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, made combating truancy a signature issue before she was elected to the U.S. Senate.
In March of 2019, the Huffington Post highlighted the case of an Orange County Black mother who was prosecuted under the truancy law. However, the woman’s daughter was actually out of school because of an illness.
By April of 2019, Harris apologized.
“My regret is that I have now heard stories where in some jurisdictions, DAs have now criminalized the parents. And I regret that that has happened and the thought that anything that I did could have led to that.” Harris told “Pod Save America.”
A Medium.com article from June of 2018 ripped into Harris criminal justice history, “Kamala Harris’ career was built on both the slave labor of black and brown prisoners and also the pettiness of truancy laws that separated poor and mostly black mothers from their children. Harris was so proud of her history with taking mothers from their children that she used it as her signature campaign agenda while running for AG.”
The article resurfaced when she announced she was running.
Nonetheless, it does appear Harris has been held to a different standard then someone like Joe Biden who co-authored the 1994 crime reform bill and he continues to lead in nearly every poll.
See the reactions to Harris exiting the race below: