Election season is officially here

Kamala Harris speaks to CAALA Board of Governors in April

Hillary vs. Trump! Get ready for five months of some intense political drama as these two go at each other and their respective positions.

Election season is officially here. And, of course, as lawyers for individuals and consumers, we have an obligation to support those candidates who are aligned with our ideals. Access to justice; access to the courts; limiting mandatory arbitration and one-sided arbitration clauses; taking a stand against so-called tort reformers; strengthening laws that protect against discrimination and civil rights violations; holding big business and insurance companies accountable for their misdeeds. Those are all issues that we, as consumer attorneys, obviously believe in and fully support.

U.S. Senator race

One race of particular interest in California is for the soon-to-be vacant U.S. Senate seat held by Barbara Boxer. Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have been California’s U.S. Senators since the early 1990s. Boxer is retiring, which means for the first time in 24 years there will be a new U.S. Senator from California in 2017.

Enter Kamala Harris, California’s current Attorney General. Kamala is running for the U.S. Senator position, and she is in a great position to win.

CAALA was honored to have Kamala speak at its monthly Board meeting in April. Kamala told us how she was raised by parents who were active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Kamala grew up in the Bay area, a hotspot for civil-rights protests back then. Dinner table conversations centered on civil rights and politics. It’s no surprise then that Kamala’s childhood heroes were civil-rights leaders like Thurgood Marshall. From a very early age she knew she wanted to be a lawyer helping others.

Sure enough, she became a lawyer and, much to the surprise of her parents, began working as a prosecutor in Alameda County. She wanted to help the most vulnerable of victims. She was successful as a prosecutor, and in 2003 she won election as the San Francisco District Attorney. Seven years later, she won the election to become California’s “top cop” as the state’s Attorney General.

Now, she is the frontrunner to become our U.S. Senator.

Kamala was engaging, inspiring and compelling when she spoke to the CAALA Board. She was generous enough with her time that she joined us for a reception afterwards and took time to speak individually to every person who attended. Kamala is truly someone who cares, who strongly believes in civil rights, employment protections for workers, equal pay, and consumer rights. As Attorney General she took on big banks arising from the foreclosure crisis. She fights for environmental protections against big business. She insists that education be a priority, not an afterthought.

CAALA was fortunate to have Kamala Harris speak to us and listen to our concerns. Just like Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein before her, she could be our U.S. Senator for 20-plus years to come. She is a rising star in national politics. It was gratifying to see Kamala take time out of her incredibly busy schedule to spend time with CAALA.