14 Years Ago, a Debate Answer May Have Saved Kamala Harris

Rival's answer in California attorney general's race turned into an effective ad in a tight campaign
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2024 11:23 AM CDT
Updated Aug 24, 2024 1:25 PM CDT

As the Democratic convention opens on Monday, the New York Times looks back at a 47-second moment from back in 2010 that played a crucial role in Kamala Harris' political rise. It came during a debate between Harris and Steve Cooley in the race for California attorney general. Cooley, then the popular district attorney of Los Angeles County, was asked about "double-dipping"—whether he planned to accept both his $150,000 salary as attorney general as well as a pension for being a former district attorney.

  • "Yes, I do," he said. "I earned it." He added: "I definitely earned whatever pension rights I have, and I will certainly rely upon that to supplement the very low, incredibly low salary that's paid to the attorney general." Watch the moment here, via KCRA.

At that point, Cooley held a slight edge in the polls and appeared on track to win. The Harris team turned his response into an effective ad that ended with the words, "$150,000 a year isn't enough?" It was, writes Shane Goldmacher in the Times, a "turning point in the campaign," given that the average California household earned about $54,000 at the time. Harris would go on to win the race by less than a single percentage point, parlaying that job into a Senate seat, and then her term as vice president—and it's quite possible she would not be the Democratic presidential nominee today if not for those 47 seconds.

At Reason, Josh Blackman assesses this and finds it ironic that Donald Trump ally John Eastman played a role in all this. Eastman lost the GOP primary in that same attorney general race to Cooley that year, and during his campaign, it was Eastman who first raised the "double dipping" charge against Cooley. "I think it is safe to say that John Eastman, at least in part, helped Harris win her race for Attorney General," writes Blackman. (More Kamala Harris stories.)

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