Prosecutor vs. convicted felon: How Democrats believe Harris’ background changes the election
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Harris’ background does, however, give her a real platform to talk about crime and quality of life in America from a position of strength, DeRosa said.
“Her background in prosecuting homicide, robbery and three-strike cases shows she walks the walk, and given the moment we find ourselves in, with an electorate that increasingly feels the country is more and more out of control, having a tough-on-crime Democrat with a lifetime of work to point to can only be beneficial,” she said.
‘She was only thinking of herself’
Harris’ work as a prosecutor could, in fact, open her up to attacks from Republicans, who have been mining her record for ammunition to use against her on the campaign trail.
Before she became the Democratic front-runner, most of the GOP criticism leveled against her focused on her time as vice president and specifically her role in the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the southern border.
Biden tasked Harris early in his presidency to lead the administration’s efforts with Mexico and Central American nations to address the root cause of illegal immigration. Though she was never directly responsible for security at the southern border, Republicans have accused her of failing to stem the flow of millions of migrants crossing illegally into the United States.
Now, her work as a prosecutor will be under greater scrutiny.
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One line of attack is likely to involve her handling of the murder case against a gang member who killed San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004. The suspect, David Hill, gunned down Espinoza, 29, with an AK-47 the Saturday night before Easter.
Harris, who had become San Francisco’s district attorney just three months earlier, came under fire for deciding to pursue a prison sentence of life without parole for Hill instead of seeking the death penalty. Her decision became an issue when she ran for president in 2020.
“I felt like she had just taken something from us,” Espinoza’s widow, Renata, told CNN in 2019. “She had just taken justice from us. From Isaac. She was only thinking of herself.”
Trump’s 2020 campaign slammed Harris over her decision not to seek the death penalty in the Isaac case, saying she “sided with criminals over cops” – a line of attack Republicans could try to resurrect now that she is the Democratic front-runner and Trump’s likely opponent in November.
“Not only does Kamala need to defend her support of Joe Biden’s failed agenda over the past four years, she also needs to answer for her own terrible weak-on-crime record in California,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
While Harris’ critics will pick at parts of her record, Wright thinks her prosecutorial background works to the Democrats’ overall advantage, especially in an abbreviated campaign.
For many voters, Wright said, the choice for president will come down to this: “Do we want a criminal? Or do we want somebody that for much of their life has been putting criminals behind bars?”
Contributing: Vivian Jones of The Tennessean
Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.
