Kamala Harris’s sudden political ascent to becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee to face Donald Trump in November’s US election has put the spotlight on the advisers, allies and donors who will shape the campaign — and if she wins, her presidency.
Gone are the veteran Democratic operatives that surrounded US President Joe Biden for years and long formed the core of his inner circle. Instead, a new cast of aides, confidants and supporters has arrived, some with deep roots in Harris’s home state of California.
Family
Doug Emhoff, a Los Angeles-based lawyer and Harris’s husband, has been the “second gentleman” of the US since she became vice-president. He has been active both in the campaign, including on fundraising, and at official White House events, where he has focused on combating antisemitism.
The vice-president’s sister Maya Harris, a lawyer and policy adviser, ran her failed 2020 campaign for the Democratic nomination, and her niece Meena Harris, a theatre producer, remain close to her too.
Tony West, Maya Harris’s husband, remains a confidant as his sister-in-law campaigns, and has been spotted several times recently on Air Force Two, the vice-president’s plane. He is a top executive at Uber, after formerly being general counsel at PepsiCo and serving as a top justice department prosecutor.
Policymakers
A number of central figures — some from the Biden administration — are advising Harris on policy. Phil Gordon, a senior US diplomat and official who specialised in Europe and the Middle East in several Democratic administrations, has been her closest adviser on national security.
Mike Pyle, Biden’s former G7 and G20 sherpa, who was her top economic adviser for a time, remains close. Before the Biden administration, he worked at BlackRock and is now at MacroAdvisory Partners, a consultancy close to the White House. He embraced Biden’s industrial policy, seeing a revitalised manufacturing capacity as helpful to national security as well as the US economy.
Deanne Millison, who now works for Ford on manufacturing policy, was Harris’s top economic adviser after Pyle left the White House, and has spoken about how intently the vice-president was focused on boosting small businesses. Rohini Kosoglu, her former domestic policy adviser who has been helping with debate preparations, is also influential in her circle.
Financiers
Wall Street funds are pouring into Harris’s campaign. Jon Henes, a top corporate bankruptcy adviser, formerly of Kirkland & Ellis, and longtime Harris ally in finance, has been co-ordinating fundraising.
Other leading Wall Street figures rushing to help include Ray McGuire, the Lazard banker and former Citigroup executive, and Brad Karp, chair of corporate law firm Paul Weiss. Blair Effron, the veteran dealmaker at Centerview Partners and a fixture of Democratic fundraising, is also on board. So are Blackstone president Jonathan Gray, Evercore co-founder Roger Altman, and Marc Lasry, the hedge fund investor and former co-owner of NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Many in Wall Street have been extremely supportive of Kamala for years,” said a Democratic fundraiser. “Blair and Brad backed her hugely in the 2020 presidential primaries . . . they aren’t last minute supporters.”
Crystal McCrary McGuire, a lawyer and entrepreneur who is married to Ray McGuire, is also involved — and is a central figure in the Seneca Project, which mobilises women to vote in swing states. “I know she [Harris] is going to do it. It’s going to be absolutely hard but I’m looking at the numbers,” she said, adding that Harris’s energy was “coming from unique, first time voters”.
Tech allies
Reed Hastings, the chair of Netflix, had been among the Democratic donors openly pushing Biden to quit the race. He immediately pumped $7mn into Harris’s campaign after the president dropped out. Reid Hoffman, the venture capitalist who co-founded LinkedIn, also swiftly backed her bid for the White House.
Republicans have made inroads among Silicon Valley donors in recent years — but Harris has kept her allies. They include Brad Smith of Microsoft, who hosted a fundraiser for the Biden campaign at his Seattle home last year. Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer at Meta, is another prominent supporter.
Hollywood
Harris is a woman of the Bay Area: she was born in Oakland and later became district attorney of San Francisco. But she also has strong Hollywood connections through her husband, Emhoff, a well-regarded entertainment lawyer. The couple live in the posh Brentwood neighbourhood, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Disney chief executive Bob Iger.
Harris’s entertainment industry allies have generated millions for her campaigns over the years. Her best friend in Los Angeles, Chrisette Hudlin, is married to Reginald Hudlin, a Democratic donor and former president of Black Entertainment Television and producer of films including House Party and Django Unchained.
Harris is also close to Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, who along with her husband Matt have been friends and financial backers since 2003. Producer Ryan Murphy is also a friend and supporter, along with Nicole Avant, wife of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Laura Shell, wife of Jeff Shell, the former NBCUniversal executive and incoming Paramount CEO, are also close to Harris.
Campaigners
Harris has retained the top brass of the Biden campaign. Jen O’Malley Dillon will stay on as campaign chair, and campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez is also expected to have a role in the Harris team.
Harris already had dedicated staffers within the Biden campaign, such as Sheila Nix, her campaign’s chief of staff, and Brian Fallon, her communications director who was formerly an aide to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. Minyon Moore, the chair of the Democratic National Convention, is also influential in the Harris orbit.
There has been speculation that Harris might want to draft Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan and Barack Obama’s first White House chief of staff, to play a top role in the campaign, but nothing has been confirmed.
Outsiders
Harris is relying on several former contacts and outside allies to perform important duties as she launches her campaign.
Eric Holder, the US former attorney-general under Obama, is vetting her potential running mates ahead of an announcement that will have to come before the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
Sean Clegg of Bearstar Strategies, a San Francisco political communications group that advised her previously, has been helping with debate prep, along with Karen Dunn, a trial lawyer at Paul Weiss. Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant-governor of California, has also been an important surrogate and supporter of Harris.
Strategists
Megan Jones, Harris’s senior political adviser on the campaign, was previously at the White House and worked closely with the vice-president on her fight to protect abortion rights. Jones is from Nevada, a critical swing state, and an aide to the late Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who was famous for the turnout machine he created to boost Democratic votes in Las Vegas.
Sergio Gonzales is a crucial aide on Hispanic outreach, while Jalisa Washington-Price, a South Carolina strategist close to influential African-American lawmaker Jim Clyburn, is also on the team. The Washington Post said Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic strategist, is in close touch with Harris.
There is still chatter that Harris may draft in another heavyweight strategist such as David Plouffe, a former senior Obama adviser, to help.