Today, amid record fundraising and meme-generating, it’s easy to forget that Kamala Harris’ first run for president flamed out almost before the campaign staff she attracted to had fully settled in. But those who worked on that abbreviated run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, which ended in December 2019 before a single primary had been held, say the response to Harris’ current campaign shows they were just ahead of their time. “We already knew what everyone else has had to get ready to see,” said Julian Hamer, who worked as a video producer for Harris’ first campaign for president.
“I am just looking forward to her winning over the hearts of all Americans.” Hamer, 33, is among the alumni of that first presidential campaign who are flashing back to those intense months, and how it influenced the trajectory of their careers and lives. And, of course, that of the candidate herself: Joe Biden ultimately won the nomination, selected his former rival Harris as his running mate and the two won in November 2020.
Now, with Biden bowing out of his re-election bid and endorsing his vice president to take his place at the top of the Democratic ticket, Harris is poised to become the party’s presidential nominee and facing the candidate they had beaten last time, former President Donald Trump. How many members of Harris’ 2020 run will rejoin her for this year’s race remains to be seen; the campaign is barely a week old. But many have stayed in her general orbit.
After the 2020 pullout, Hamer went on to work on the Biden-Harris ticket, , and starting a production company with a fellow campaign alum. Jasmine Clemons, 40, a self-described “wanderer” who moved to Baltimore to work as the Southeast political director of the Harris campaign, found she loved the city and stayed, first working as a policy manager for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and now as the director of the Board of Public Works for Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman.
And Keenen Geter, 33, who did advance work for Harris in both of her 2020 presidential and vice presidential campaign, decided to continue that line of work, but in different venue. He now is an advance officer managing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s travel and logistics, Today, they remain proud of what ultimately was a losing campaign, and that instead of locating in her native California or a larger market, Harris chose Baltimore. “I wanted to join the Harris campaign without even knowing where the HQ would be located,” Geter, said in an email.
“It just so happened to be located in Baltimore.” Geter, who previously worked in the Mayor’s Office of Human Services, said it was great he could host campaign staff for cookouts at the home he owned in Park Heights at the time, and share his inside tips on his favorite places to get a crabcake or haircut. “It felt great seeing HQ staff enjoying Baltimore,” he said, “and calling it their temporary home.
” Clemons thought it would be just that. “You think you’re coming for a while, but you end up staying,” said Clemons, who is originally from Louisiana but has logged time in Florida, New York and Washington. “I love Baltimore, I love Maryland — they should put me on the tourism council.
Everyone has a place at the table here.” Shortly before Harris officially announced her 2020 run in January 2019, . The campaign between Federal Hill and the stadium complex before moving in June 2019 into an office building on Charles Street downtown.
The campaign opted to base itself in Baltimore for both practical reasons — it’s close to Washington, where Harris was a U.S. Senator, and on the Amtrak line — and more vibe-y ones.
Harris’ sister and campaign chairwoman, Maya Harris, told The Sun Baltimore felt like a “sister city” to their native Oakland, California. At the time, Clemons’ “meandering public sector career” had brought her to Washington, where she worked for a couple of federal agencies but never a political campaign. But Harris had been a longtime inspiration for Clemons — they both attended HBCUs, Howard in the case of the former and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University for the latter, and both were members of the same sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
When Clemons was approached to join the Harris campaign, it seemed like a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” so she jumped at it. While the fast pace of campaigning took some getting used to, she said she loved how many Black women were in senior leadership roles. “It was remarkable to see that,” she said.
“It came from the top.” Harris started the campaign among the frontrunners in a crowded field that would grow to more than two dozen candidates. But a range of problems, from shifting strategies to infighting among top officials, developed and as fundraising faltered, campaign staff were laid off.
By December 2019, two months before the Iowa caucuses, Harris announced she didn’t have the resources to continue her run and pulled out. While always a possibility, the end of the “small but mighty” campaign they were running was devastating, the Baltimore-based staff said. “That was a risk you take.
On any campaign when you’re not the clear frontrunner, it’s always in the back of your mind that it could end,” Clemons said. Still, she added, “it was heartbreaking.” Hamer, a Baltimore native, remembers staff members gathering amid “oh so many tears” at one of their hangouts, a bar on Water Street downtown.
“I really internalized it,” Hamer said. Charged with telling people who Harris was via her camera, “I felt like I had let her down.” Suddenly, she was out of work, a first for the Garrison Forest graduate.
Since graduating with a journalism degree from Temple University, Hamer had worked in TV and as a freelance video producer, director and cinematographer. Soon, the COVID pandemic would erupt, add to the challenges. But after Biden picked Harris as his running mate in August 2020, Hamer was tapped to join the campaign as a senior producer.
By the following year, she and another campaign veteran had started their own production company, Fearless Video. “Everything happens for a reason,” Hamer said. Martha McKenna, a Baltimore-based political consultant, didn’t work for the Harris campaign but knew some who did.
When it ended, she sprang into action and hosted a gathering for the campaign staff to meet local elected officials and others who might be in the position of hiring. “The Harris campaign was full of bright, hard-working, dedicated operators who had uprooted their lives to come to Baltimore to work for Kamala Harris,” she said. “I wanted them to feel welcome here, and to convince them to stay.
” She estimated perhaps a half-dozen of the out-of-towners, including Clemons, ultimately set down local roots, joining those who were from here originally. Whether they stayed or scatter, some of the alums have stayed in touch over the intervening years, having developed a tight bond over what Hamer called the “really, really special” experience of that first campaign. Watching her second campaign launching to such early enthusiasm has been heartening, said Clemons, who was among t last Sunday night, which raised more than $1.
5 million. Callers to subsequent Zoom gatherings geared toward other groups have similarly drawn big numbers, . “I’ve been really proud how everyone is coalescing around this candidate,” Clemons said.
“It’s going to be a tough 100 days [to Election Day], but this has given me a new optimism. It’s really been beautiful seeing the energy.”.
