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California’s next governor will be a woman, with the race still two years away. But Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Sacramento

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The possibility was highlighted Thursday after the nation’s first female vice president spent time with two women seeking to become California’s first female governor.

At a historic mansion near the Capitol, Harris met with Democratic state lawmakers, where she was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), the first woman to hold that post. Next, Harris first attended a fundraiser hosted by another woman. Democratic Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, the first woman elected to that office.

Atkins and Kounalakis have already launched campaigns to run for governor in 2026, in what is expected to be a crowded field that will include at least one other woman, Betty Yee, vice chair of the California Democratic Party.

Neither was the subject of Harris’ visit. The vice president’s message Thursday to a friendly audience in the home state was aimed at rallying Democrats to re-elect President Biden. She called this year’s election a binary choice between a former president who openly talks about his admiration for dictators and Biden, whose administration is aimed at improving the plight of the people.

The split screen couldn’t be stronger. And the stakes couldn’t be higher, Harris told donors gathered at Kounalaki’s parents’ sprawling home in Sacramento, with marble columns, crystal chandeliers and gold candelabra.

Guests included Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia of Long Beach and Doris Matsui of Sacramento; Jodi Hicks, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California; and countless lobbyists doing business in the Capitol. According to the invitation, donors were asked to donate between $5,000 and $50,000 to attend the rally, and Kounalakis said the event raised $648,000 for Biden’s re-election.

The ties between the vice president and the lieutenant governor go back about two decades, Kounalakis said, to when Harris was first elected in San Francisco.

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attorney. At the time, Kounalakis ran her family’s homebuilding business and routinely helped raise money for Democratic politicians.

We started having lunch together regularly in San Francisco, taking a look at what it was like to be a female professional, some of the challenges we had, Kounalakis said in an interview. We often compared notes on shoes and suits, and where to get the best ones.

Kounalakis said she once arranged a date with Harris, but it was not a romantic relationship.

They remained connected as Harris’ career progressed. Kounalakis and her family donated at least $29,000 in support of Harris campaigns for California attorney general in 2010 and 2014

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The campaign’s financial data shows this. When Kounalakis ran for lieutenant governor in 2018, Harris provided a critical endorsement that added credibility to my campaign early in the race, Kounalakis said.

Two years later, when Joe Biden was looking for a running mate, Kounalakis lobbied his campaign to choose Harris as his vice president.

I felt there was a lack of appreciation for her skills and her talents and abilities. Many of us in California felt this way, Kounalakis said.

She hosted a Zoom meeting with Biden’s selection committee and invited elected officials and labor leaders from across California. Everyone was given two minutes to provide a testimonial about Harris.

Dolores Huertas was most memorable to me because she stared at the selection committee and said, “We need to tell our daughters that being ambitious is a strength and not a weakness,” Kounalakis recalled.

Harris described her visit to Sacramento on Thursday as a homecoming of sorts after working there for six years

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as attorney general.

She has close ties to so many members of our caucus. “It was great to welcome her,” said Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

Harris spoke to lawmakers about the benefits California is getting from Biden’s initiatives, such as the federal infrastructure bill and the CHIPS and Science Act, which directs billions of dollars to domestic semiconductor research and development, and told them that California has an important role to play plays in driving a democratic policy agenda that can ultimately shape the nation.

The message she sent was a great reminder of how important the work we do as a state legislature is, Rivas said.

It should come as no surprise that Republicans saw this differently.

Californians are worse off today because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement criticizing their disastrous policies at the southern border, on the economy and on crime .

Atkins said she appreciated Harris speaking to lawmakers about reproductive rights and abortion access, a key issue that Democrats will push in races up and down the ballot

in this year’s elections

. Harris’ reelection message was inspiring, Atkins said, and Democratic lawmakers are proud that the nation’s first female vice president is a Californian.

What that will mean for the women who want to break the glass ceiling in California’s governor’s office remains to be seen.

We have all these relationships with Harris, Atkins said. She knows Betty Yee, she knows Eleni, she knows me.

Atkins said there was no pushing or booing Thursday to shift Harris’ attention to California’s 2026 gubernatorial race.

That day will come, I’m sure, she said. But that wasn’t today.