Former Vice President Kamala Harris surprised Angelenos on Sunday when she spoke at the Stop the Power Grab rally to show support for gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra at the Hollywood Palladium.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, United States Sen. Alex Padilla, and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff all spoke at the rally in support of the Democratic nominee. Becerra, former California attorney general and U.S. health secretary, is facing Republican Steve Hilton in the race to succeed two-term Newsom.
The event kicked off with a speech by Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, who introduced U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Executive Director Angelica Salas, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler and actress Yvette Nicole Brown also spoke.
Newsom and Harris both delivered sharp criticisms of President Donald Trump and highlighted both former Attorney General Becerra and current Attorney General Bonta’s more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump Administration. They were the only two speakers at the event who avoided the podium and chose instead to speak off the cuff, addressing the crowd from all areas of the stage.
Neither politician mentioned their plans for the presidential election in 2028.
Harris, who was not listed on the official lineup, received a standing ovation after being introduced by California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
She encouraged voters to act on their anger through their vote to “show the world who we are and what we care about,” she said.
Newsom, who walked out to Tupac’s “California Love,” reminded voters that Trump’s National Guard activations started with 4,000 troops being sent to Los Angeles under the supervision of former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino.
“It is good to be governor of the most un-Trump state in America,” said Newsom, a longtime critic of Trump.
He gave praise to Becerra, whom he credited for being the reason California has done more than any state in the nation on healthcare by gaining waivers and support while serving in his role as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Becerra took the stage and echoed both Harris’ and Newsom’s disdain for Trump, pushing for “a blue wave that will wash Trump’s corruption and cruelty down the sewage pipe of history.”
Voters headed to the polls today to shape the next four years of governorship in a state that hasn’t had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s term ended Jan. 11, 2011.