Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday urged voters to deliver Congress to Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, warning that access to the ballot could be in jeopardy under President Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland in a conversation hosted by Rep. Lateefah Simon, Harris said she fears the Supreme Court may further weaken the Voting Rights Act and that a Trump-backed bill moving through Congress could sharply restrict voting access nationwide.
“These midterms coming up are pretty much the only way we’re going to stop the madness,” Harris told the crowd, accusing the administration of acting “without guard rails.”
The event marked Harris’ second Bay Area stop since the September release of her memoir, “107 Days,” but the discussion focused less on her unsuccessful presidential campaign and more on what she described as a pivotal political moment. She reflected on how the Bay Area’s tradition of activism shaped her upbringing and encouraged young people in the audience to remain engaged. Harris also renewed her support for lowering the voting age to 16, arguing that teenagers deserve a say in decisions that shape their futures.
Harris has dubbed her nationwide book tour a “freedom tour,” saying it has allowed her to speak candidly without the constraints of holding office or running for one. She described undertaking a parallel “shadow tour,” traveling without press to listen to Americans’ concerns in the aftermath of the election.
On Tuesday, that listening tour included a stop at an East Oakland community center, where she observed a class teaching tweens how to pitch entrepreneurial ideas. Recounting a recent visit to Jackson, Mississippi, Harris described accompanying a single mother shopping for groceries on a tight budget. Rising prices, she said, were driven in part by tariffs, a pointed critique of Trump. She also cited Jackson’s longstanding water infrastructure issues, noting residents often cannot rely on clean tap water.
Simon echoed Harris’ criticisms of the administration, citing deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and describing a federal government “stripped down to the bones.”
Harris closed with a broader warning: even before the current political climate, she said, “the system wasn’t working for a lot of people.”
