CHICAGO – Jubilant California Democrats have taken Chicago by storm to nominate one of their own for president with increased hope that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign will boost the party’s chances in tight races in the state that could determine House control next year. 

Many of the state’s 496 delegates to the party’s convention here attended a Monday morning breakfast, where top officials rallied the crowd, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Laphonza Butler and House Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar. 

California’s delegation is playing a special role at this convention as the home state of the nominee and a key battleground state in House elections, California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks said. 

“The road to the White House, the road to retake the House of Representatives, and in many ways, the road to preservation and protection of democracy runs through California,” Hicks said. 

Democrats need to pick up a net of four seats to take back House control, and there are five Republican incumbents in California districts where Democratic nominee Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump in 2020. 

Republican Reps. John Duarte and Mike Garcia are in races that Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates as Toss-ups. Duarte is running in a rematch against former Assemblymember Adam Gray, who lost by just 564 votes in 2022, while Garcia is facing off against George Whitesides, the former CEO of space tourism company Virgin Galactic. 

Republican Rep. David Valadao is facing off against former Assemblymember Rudy Salas, who he defeated by 3 points in 2022, in a race rated Tilt Republican. Rep. Michelle Steel’s race against attorney Derek Tran is rated Lean Republican, while Rep. Young Kim’s race with retired firefighter Joseph Kerr is rated Likely Republican. 

“They are running strong campaigns, talking about local issues, talking about housing affordability, driving down the costs that families pay,” Aguilar told the delegates. “We’re going to also hear directly from the vice president about these same issues, because it is our value set, a positive message for our communities.” 

$5 million ad reservation

Of $27 million in television ad reservations announced Monday by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, more than $5 million is going to be spent in California.

Hicks, the state party chair, said in an interview Harris’ ascension to the top of the ticket last month spurred more people to volunteer for and donate to campaigns.

“Certainly having an extra boost of energy, in big rallies around the country and in campaign offices in these targeted seats, I believe will make a difference,” Hicks said. “We’re going to put that enthusiasm to work.” 

The Trump campaign believes the current enthusiasm for Harris is a “sugar high” and that the polling has started to plateau, Brian Hughes, a senior adviser for the campaign, said following a campaign counter-programming event at Trump Tower. He said Harris is trying to redefine herself as less liberal than she really is.

“The idea that Harris has love to sort of spill over into House races or into Senate races, I think that is overstated, and it will normalize back to where it was before the last couple of weeks,” he said. 

Harris is set to become the first Democratic nominee from California. Both of the presidents from California, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, were Republicans. 

Butler, a close Harris ally who was appointed last year to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said Harris’ experience rising through the ranks of the California Democratic Party taught her how to bring people together and appeal to a wide range of voters. After her tenure as the San Francisco district attorney, Harris won statewide elections as attorney general and senator. 

“She knows that every person in our state has helped to make our state great, and she’s prepared to take those powerful tools taught to her by the sons and daughters of California and bring our country together,” Butler said. 

Governance ‘from the center’

Harris, who will speak on the convention’s final night on Thursday, will present a message about a bold, progressive future, Pelosi said. She said Harris is politically astute and has learned from California’s wide range of communities. 

“She knows governance has to be from the center in our country,” Pelosi said in a gaggle with reporters following her remarks. “When she’s putting forth her priorities, they have to be in a way that is unified.” 

Pelosi also praised Biden, who speaks Monday night, for his “selfless” decision to pass the torch to Harris. While she highlighted Biden’s accomplishments as president, Pelosi told reporters she wanted to win the election and that the country is “very happy” with the switch from Biden to Harris. 

“One of my members from Illinois … told me last night that immediately he had 1,100 new volunteers in this campaign, immediately,” she said. “And we are seeing that all over the country.” 

The Democrats railed against Trump and his vice presidential selection, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, at the breakfast, which was held at the Hyatt Regency on the opposite side of the Chicago River from the imposing Trump Tower. 

“The only thing [Trump] and the Republicans did when they were in power was to pass a tax cut that gave 83 percent of the benefits to the 1 percent and added $2 trillion to the national debt,” Pelosi told reporters. 

Butler blasted Vance for his previous comments that “childless cat ladies” are running the country, which solicited a chorus of “meows” from the delegates. 

‘Failed policies’

California Republicans have called Harris “radical” and said that crime and homelessness in San Francisco are the result of Democratic policies.

“A city once viewed as a liberal’s paradise is now a stark reminder of the consequences of Kamala Harris’ and Democrats’ years of failed policies,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement following a Harris event in the state earlier this month. “The last thing our nation needs is for radical California Democrat Kamala Harris to fail up to the White House.”

Hicks said an argument from Republicans that Harris is a “San Francisco liberal” is not going to work in this campaign, as Harris and running mate Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, are running a forward-looking, optimistic campaign. 

“It’s a hell of a lot different than a message about hate, fear and going backward,” Hicks said. “The reality is that elections are about the future, and that’s exactly what we have here.”