Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris opens Oakland campaign office

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Democratic presidential candidate senator Kamala Harris received a warm welcome from a crowd of volunteers and supporters at the opening of her campaign office in Oakland.

Harris was born in Oakland, and with her history in the Bay Area, the campaign is calling this her "hometown headquarters."

"Oakland really does represent the promise of America and so much about our campaign is what I learned and grew up knowing," Harris told the crowd during the Sunday afternoon event.

Before she took the stage, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf pumped up the crowd. Both have endorsed Harris in the 2020 presidential race.

This is Harris' first official campaign office in California. The senator spoke briefly about her priorities, something the campaign has labeled her "3AM agenda," or the things that wake American families up in the middle of the night.

But, a major focus of the speech had to do with the need for the country to unite.

The senator's visit to the Bay Area comes as her colleagues in the House Intelligence Committee plans to work though the legislative recess, moving forward with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

The president, his supporters and many republicans deny and wrongdoing and call the inquiry a "witch hunt."

Senator Harris supports the impeachment proceedings and spoke to reporters about it at the opening of her office.

"We have to find out what's been going on," said Harris. "The allegations in the complaint including the transcript give good reason."

Senator Harris opened her presidential campaign in Oakland in January. The campaign is hoping to build on support in her hometown, but a new poll released this week by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies show she is struggling in her home state.

According to the poll, only 8% of California voters say they'd likely vote for Harris to be the party's nominee.

Senator Elizabeth Warren leads the pack at 29%, followed by former vice president Joe Biden and senator Bernie Sanders.

Senator Harris and her supporters say they're not worried. "There's lots of time on the clock," said Raquel Engelund from Alameda. "I think looking back to when Barack Obama was running, it was very similar numbers."

"Every race I have run and won, I started with low poll numbers," Harris told reporters.