Sen. Kamala Harris has nursed connections with the California’s biggest donors during three campaigns for statewide office and two more for district attorney in San Francisco. | Getty Kamala Harris' California gold rush

Donor-rich California has long been known as the ATM of the Democratic Party. Sen. Kamala Harris wants to turn it into her personal armored truck.

The California senator and 2020 presidential candidate has nursed connections with the state’s biggest donors during three campaigns for statewide office and two more for district attorney in San Francisco. Now, Harris is working aggressively to turn those connections into commitments locking down those donors before out-of-state presidential rivals have a chance.


Before the presidential race even started, Harris spent hundreds of thousands of dollars through her leadership PAC to prospect the California donor scene. She has already held more California fundraisers than any other candidate for president, seeking out the bundlers who raised massive sums for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And with many top Democratic donors waiting for the crowded primary field to winnow before singling out a candidate for support, Harris’ efforts to win over her state’s money could not only boost her campaign but starve some of her rivals.

“She certainly is experienced as an executive, as a district attorney in San Francisco and again as the attorney general,” said San Francisco billionaire Doug Goldman, a donor who bundled money for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. “I think we would do damn well to elect Kamala Harris.”

Harris phoned Goldman, a longtime contact in the Bay Area, several weeks before her announcement to inform him of her plans and ask for his support, which he eventually gave after quizzing Harris on how she would approach the campaign. In addition to donating to Harris, Goldman plans to fundraise for her from his network of contacts, he said.

The stakes for California’s cash grab are immense. California was responsible for $522 million in candidates, parties and outside groups during the 2016 election, more than any other state, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

While Harris has home-field advantage in California, other 2020 Democrats are playing off connections of their own. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker who got his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, could be a major rival: He has raised money from Silicon Valley investors for both his past campaigns and a startup he helped found while he was mayor of Newark.

Booker attended his first Silicon Valley fundraiser since announcing his bid for president last weekend, at the home of Laura and Gary Lauder, a venture capitalist and member of the Estee Lauder family. Booker also got early support in his campaign from Steve Phillips, a major Bay Area donor who is gathering donations for a super PAC.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock have made recent fundraised or met with donors while in California recently, too. But Harris already held two February events in Hollywood, hosted by David Cooley, the CEO and founder of the nightclub Abbey, and Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

In mid-March, Harris will return to Hollywood, when actress Katie McGrath and filmmaker J.J. Abrams are hosting another soiree.

“She’s a first among equals,” said Andy Spahn, a Los Angeles fundraising consultant and adviser who is president of Gonring, Spahn and Associates. “It’s expensive to run statewide races here, it requires a pretty broad network of support. So she’s built that over the course of her campaigns which has enabled her to start quickly here.”

After winning her last election, her 2016 Senate race, Harris laid further groundwork with California contributors through her leadership PAC, campaign finance records indicate. She paid $289,000 to fundraising consultants based in California and spent tens of thousands more at California-based fundraising events in 2017 and 2018, including a $21,000 retreat at the The Lodge at Torrey Pines, a luxury hotel in La Jolla.

Since jumping into the presidential race, a February fundraiser in San Francisco provided an opportunity for Harris, her husband and her sister (campaign chairwoman Maya Harris) to mingle with more than 100 donors at Delancey Street, a foundation and restaurant that helps rehabilitate former prisoners and addicts. Philanthropist Roselyne “Cissie” Swig, a Democratic donor, sat in the front row as Harris spoke to the crowd, according to an attendee, warning them that the Democratic field would be crowded — but she was prepared to stand out.

Harris, like other candidates, is also working to build a following with online donors in addition to bigger donors who attend in-person events. Her campaign raised $1.5 million within 24 hours of its launch online from 38,000 individual donors, according to figures provided by the campaign. The campaign also increased its email list of supporters by 20 percent on its first day.

One of Harris’ earliest big-ticket supporters, major Hillary Clinton donor Susie Tompkins Buell, had known Harris for years but planned — like many other Democratic donors — to stay neutral in the primary. That changed after she attended Harris’ campaign launch.

“I was very hesitant to get involved. I wanted to pace myself, get that pageant going on and see who would be there,” said Buell, the San Francisco-based co-founder of Esprit clothing. “Then when I saw her at the rollout, I realized she’s what we need right now. We need fierce and we need joy and we need her experience.”

Buell now plans to raise money for Harris, and she said she’ll will be teaming up on occasion with Amy Rao, another former Clinton fundraiser who is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Integrated Archive Systems.

“I think it’s really going to be a good group of candidates, I really do,” said Buell. “But she’s very loved here, Kamala is.”

Christopher Cadelago contributed reporting.