White House hopefuls — California, here they come
Presidential candidates are rushing to the state – with a year to go before the primary
As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, the Bay Area is starting to see a flurry of activity from White House hopefuls headed west.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is planning blowout rallies up and down California this weekend, including one in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon. Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with local leaders in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon for an event about climate change. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and entrepreneur Andrew Yang met supporters in Fremont and San Francisco last weekend, while South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is hitting the Bay Area next week.
And it’s not just Democrats: Vice President Mike Pence stayed in Monterey on Monday night and stopped in Redwood City on Tuesday morning to meet with business leaders at the headquarters of the tech firm Oracle.
The packed schedule on the Democratic side is a departure from previous primary campaigns, at least this early in the race. In past years, it was more common for candidates to drop into Silicon Valley or Hollywood for big-dollar fundraisers but not stick around for rallies or public campaign events until closer to the state’s primary.
The rush of presidential contenders to the Golden State so long before voters go to the polls is one sign that the hopefuls are taking the California primary more seriously this time, as the state’s earlier place on the calendar gives it added importance in the campaign. Californians will go to the polls on March 3, 2020, just weeks after voters in the traditional early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
“With the change in the calendar, the whole process clearly has been ratcheted up to some degree,” said Garry South, a longtime Democratic strategist in Los Angeles. “The fact that all these other candidates are coming out here is pretty good evidence that they don’t believe Kamala Harris has this thing locked up.”
California’s method of apportioning its delegates also makes it an attractive destination: The majority of delegates are doled out based on the winners in each of the state’s 53 congressional districts. So even if a top contender
such as Harris — the homestate senator — or potential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden wins a strong majority statewide, other candidates can still go home with delegates if they do well in specific pockets of the state and win at least 15 percent of the vote overall.
Attention on Bay Area Democrats has been growing since late January when more than 20,000 people showed up in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland to watch Harris kick off her campaign. Another huge crowd is expected at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in Great Meadow Park at Fort Mason for Sanders’ first Bay Area visit since declaring he was running again. His campaign in 2016 repeatedly drew enthusiastic crowds at stops throughout the region.
On Tuesday, Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, met with about 40 Bay Area Presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., visits San Francisco on Tuesday for a speaking engagement at the Golden Gate Club at the Presidio.
residents at a panel discussion in the Presidio, chatting about ideas to address climate change with Californians including a former fire service chief and a teenage climate activist. She heard about the devastation of the state’s wildfires
and discussed her support for the Green New Deal, which she called a revolutionary moment in climate change policy.
“For so long, the debate was, ‘Is it really happening,’ ” said Klobuchar, speaking in a room with a
sweeping view of the San Francisco Bay. “This is going to be a national discussion like we’ve never had before on climate change.”
Mary Woten, a medical writer in San Francisco and a Klobuchar supporter, said she liked the chance to hear
from the senator firsthand.
“She’s so pragmatic and so down-to-earth,” said Woten, 56. “She’s not coming up with pie-in-the-sky things that don’t have a chance.”
Policy-focused events such as Klobuchar’s are “what campaigns should be doing at this point — letting the public know where they stand on the issues,” said Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb, who attended Klobuchar’s event and said the senator was on his “very short shortlist” of presidential candidates he might support.
It was a different scene on Sunday at a Fremont banquet hall decked out with disco balls and chandeliers, where Gabbard met a cheering crowd of about 250 supporters. The Hawaii congresswoman and Army National Guard veteran focused on an antiwar message, arguing that bringing home U.S. troops from abroad would free up funds for progressive priorities such as Medicare for All or the Green New Deal.
“If we look to Washington, all we see is a place filled with self-serving politicians and greedy corporate interests who believe our government serves them instead of our people,” she said. “We need to put service above self, make sure every person in this country has an opportunity for peace, prosperity and a bright future.”
Gabbard has trailed in the polls and struggled with controversies over her decision to meet with Syrian President Bashar alAssad in 2017 and her past opposition to LGBT rights, a stance she has apologized for. But she still has a devoted group of fans on the left.
“Her background as a veteran is a big deal, because she has firsthand experience at making those tough decisions,” said Rashmi Patil, 30, a nurse practitioner who lives in Union City. “It’s super exciting that she came all the way here.”