Harris Traveling To Iowa After Campaign Kickoff In Oakland
DES MOINES, Iowa (CBS SF / AP) – After kicking off her presidential campaign with a rally in Oakland, Sen. Kamala Harris is visiting Iowa, a crucial state in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
Harris also announced the backing of Iowa Democrat Deidre DeJear as she traveled to the early 2020 caucus state Monday.
DeJear was Iowa's first African American to win a primary for statewide office last year, but lost in her attempt to unseat Iowa's Republican secretary of state.
DeJear has since been courted by several Democrats taking steps toward running for president. Harris campaigned with DeJear in Iowa last fall after the two met in Washington, D.C., and California.
Harris is scheduled to travel to Des Moines to participate in a CNN town hall-style event live Monday evening.
On Sunday, Harris rallied supporters gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza outside City Hall in Oakland, her hometown and where she served as a prosecutor before becoming California attorney general.
"I'm running for president because I love my country. I'm running to be a president by the people. Of the people. For all the people," she said and echoed the words she has used in courtrooms and has adopted as her campaign's slogan: "My whole life, I've only had one client: The people."
Harris officially announced her candidacy for president on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She also announced that Will Dubbs, a former aide to Hillary Clinton in 2016, will direct the California senator's 2020 Iowa campaign.
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
