Kors: Kamala Harris Provides Contrast to Pence

PALM SPRINGS — Mayor Geoff Kors, who has known Sen. Kamala Harris since 2004, told Uken Report her nomination to join Vice President Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket “provides a stark contrast to the Trump-Pence Administration and an opportunity to restore decency and competence, and unify our nation around our shared values.”

Biden named Harris, long-rumored to be on his short list, as his running mate today. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has made history as the first Black woman to be a running mate.

Throughout the course of the vice presidential vetting process, politicians, activists and voters have advocated that Biden choose a woman of color as his running mate.

Biden, 77, will be the oldest president ever elected if he wins in November. By Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2021, Biden will be 78. Harris, who ran for president in the 2020 cycle, would be able to step in if necessary.

Kors said he first met Sen. Harris when she was running for District Attorney in 2004 and he was Executive Director at Equality California. 

“Senator Harris brings a great deal to the ticket,” Kors said  “She is smart, passionate about justice, and a tireless advocate.  She will work hard to ensure that Vice President Biden is elected and to restore our democracy once she is Vice President.  She is a fighter for people, especially those who too often have not had their voices heard.

Harris will work to make systemic changes in how our government works and bring her successful career as an attorney and criminal justice expert to White House, Kors said.

“She listens and is open to different views.,” he said. “She is a strong advocate and will focus on real solutions to the many problems our nation is facing.”

Harris and Kors first worked together when Equality California was leading a statewide effort to ban the so-called “panic defense” that was then being successfully used by attorneys for defendants charged with murdering LGBT individuals, Kors told Uken Report.

“She led an effort to train district attorneys nationally on how to get convictions when this defense was used and worked with us to help pass legislation limiting its use in California,” Kors said.  “In 2010, when she ran for California Attorney General, Equality California made her election our No. 1 priority.  We knew that the next Attorney General in California would be in the position to either appeal the trial court ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional or decide not to appeal and support our position that Prop 8 was unconstitutional and that the proponents of the ballot measure lacked standing to appeal, which would end the case resulting in marriage equality returning to California.

“She committed do supporting the LGBT community and her oath to uphold the Constitution while her opponent promised to appeal the Prop 8 decision in an effort to keep same-sex couples from being allowed to marry,” Kors said.  “She spoke at three of our major events that year including at the Palm Springs Equality Awards just ten days before that election.”