Barnstorm Southern California

Harris and Newsom — onetime California rivals — join hands on the trail

The two rising stars barnstorm Southern California hoping to flip a handful of Republican-held House seats.

By CARLA MARINUCCI

Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom and Sen. Kamala Harris — once viewed as potential rivals for higher office — marshaled their growing star power on the campaign trail Saturday in a bid to boost Democrats' hopes in several congressional districts the party is aiming to flip en route to the House majority.

“Oh, it’s good to be home,’’ yelled Harris to a fired-up crowd that took to its feet when she hit the stage at a rally in Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles. She and Newsom drew a packed auditorium of 600 supporters who lined up hours ahead of time to see them campaign on behalf of Katie Hill, the Democrat who has mounted a strong challenge to incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Knight, in California’s 25th Congressional District.

Harris gave a full-throated endorsement of Newsom, calling him a leader who would push back on President Donald Trump's agenda. “We will see Gavin Newsom as governor of this state,’’ she said to loud cheers. “We need to fight for the best of who we are — and we’re going to have to speak those truths that must be spoken. If Charlottesville didn’t make it clear ... if the Tree of Life synagogue didn’t make it clear ... if the Kavanaugh hearing didn’t make it clear ... Let’s speak that truth.”

Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, was just as fired up. "I love Orange — because Orange is the new blue,'' the likely next governor said in an Orange County bastion once known as "Reagan County," where law professor and consumer advocate Katie Porter has mounted a strong challenge to incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters.

On Saturday, the two presented a unified front as they raced around Southern California in Newsom’s blue “Courage for a Change” bus, emblazoned with 5-foot letters: VOTE. Harris' husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, rode along, as did Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four children.

The barnstorm came as both Newsom, the California lieutenant governor, and Harris, the first-term senator, are increasingly positioned as representatives of a new generation of Democratic leaders. Once seen as competitors to move up the ranks of California politics, they've now both staked a claim as leaders of the “resistance” against Trump.

"As a Northern Californian ... it's one of the most beautiful things you can see,'' said veteran Democratic political consultant Averell "Ace" Smith of the joint effort. The strategist, whose San Francisco-based political shop, SCN Strategies, represents both Harris and Newsom, and who rode the campaign bus with them Saturday, added with a grin: "Who'd a thunk it?"

Both Harris and Newsom currently enjoy enviable political positions: Most polls suggest Newsom holds a robust lead over GOP candidate John Cox and appears on the verge of succeeding four-term Gov. Jerry Brown as the state’s chief executive.

And Harris in recent weeks has headed to critical early states like Iowa and South Carolina, while generously doling out campaign cash to fellow Democrats. She’s raised $2.4 million for the party this cycle as speculation swirls she will enter the 2020 presidential race.

Harris and Newsom looked as energized by their time on the stump as the crowds were.

Throughout the day, Newsom brought crowds to their feet, referencing the immigrant caravans that he said Trump has wrongly used as a tool to fire up his base.

“This is a state that has brought in 112,000 refugees in the last 10 years. We are a state of refugees, a universal state ... we don’t tolerate that diversity, we celebrate that diversity,’’ he said, as the crowd in Santa Clarita roared its approval. “That’s what makes California great; that’s what makes America great. ... This is our moment. This is your moment.”

The Newsom-Harris tour hit four key regions that are home to vulnerable GOP House members representing districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In addition to stumping for Hill in Santa Clarita, the two campaigned in Irvine alongside comedienne Chelsea Handler to boost the campaign of Porter.

Porter, speaking to the crowd in Irvine, lauded Harris for her tough negotiations with big banks over mortgage settlements on behalf of California consumers.

"Mimi Walters has voted with Donald Trump 99 percent, and in doing so, she has sold us out,’’ Porter told supporters at her rally.

In the Orange County community of Costa Mesa, an epicenter for Democratic activity this year, Harris and Newsom touted the campaign of Democrat Harley Rouda, who is in a neck-and-neck race with controversial GOP incumbent Dana Rohrabacher. They were scheduled to stop by the campaign offices of Democrat Gil Cisneros, who is in a tough race against Republican Young Kim in a competition for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Ed Royce.

Though both former political fixtures in San Francisco, Newsom and Harris haven’t always been allies. Newsom, the former San Francisco mayor, and Harris, the former San Francisco district attorney, were both widely viewed as eyeing the California governor’s seat after the end of Brown’s fourth term.

But when U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer abruptly announced her decision to retire in 2015, Newsom quickly staked his claim to a gubernatorial run, announcing on Facebook that he had no intention of running for the Senate.

Harris countered his political chess move days later, saying she would run for Senate to replace Boxer.

Former Mayor Willie Brown, who has known both of them for years, acknowledged the past political rivalries. “They have to work that out,’’ he told POLITICO recently.

But political observers said the weekend’s events appeared to confirm their increasing efforts to work together to advance their party’s cause — especially against Trump.

Newsom, speaking to POLITICO aboard his campaign bus this weekend, gave a nod to Harris' rapid rise on the national scene and the speculation about a 2020 bid.

“Kamala’s got something going on, objectively ... in the fact that she is where she is, in that top tier,’’ so soon after her election to the Senate in 2016, Newsom said.

Harris was equally effusive on the campaign stage in touting the former mayor. “Are we going to elect this incredible slate, including Gavin Newsom as the next governor of the great state of California?’’ a beaming Harris said to roars from the crowd.