This browser does not support the Video element.
How Harris’ past could shape a future Biden administration
As President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris begin to work on their transition to the White House, Harris' Bay Area background may serve her well and help shape the administration.
SAN FRANCISCO - President-elect Joe Biden and his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have started work on their transition to the White House.
Harris's supporters say her Bay Area experience will be good for the country.
They say her past offers an insight into her future role as vice president.
"While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last," Harris said Saturday when she addressed the nation.
Those words resonate with those who know and worked with Vice President-elect Harris.
"She started my career in so many ways," Damani Taylor, acting president of the San Francisco Police Commission, said.
Taylor was hired as a prosecutor by Harris when she was San Francisco District Attorney. She said Harris set a good example.
"She was so intentional about making sure that that D.A.'s office was diverse," said Taylor, who went on to work for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Taylor describes her former boss as being an innovator in criminal justice reform
"Not every crime warranted a prison sentence at all. That's Kamala. She started that and now that's a movement across the nation," Taylor said.
"I would fully expect that cabinet would be very diverse and filled with more women than we've ever seen in the past," said Nancy O'Malley, Alameda County District Attorney.
She said she hired Harris first as a law clerk and later deputy district attorney.
O'Malley describes Harris as being smart, empathetic and a good fit for President-elect Joe Biden.
"She's very confident in herself. She won't shy away from controversial issues. She won't back down from a fight if that's what's needed," said O'Malley.
"We're really hopeful that a Biden-Harris administration will see us," says Rebecca Prozan who ran Harris' campaign for San Francisco District Attorney in 2003.
She said Harris attended her same-sex marriage and knows that she and Biden will be champions for civil rights.
"There's a real fear among those of us who are married that we can lose that right given the Supreme Court," Prozan said.
Harris will be the first person in the White House from California since former President Ronald Reagan.
"You're never going to make everyone happy, but I think her moral compass is pretty damn sound which is what it takes," Taylor said.
Supporters say Biden and Harris will be taking office during a difficult time, but that both have the experience and love of country to take on the challenge.