Did Kamala Harris ‘Sleep Her Way to the Top’?

Earlier this year, I met someone who was from San Francisco, California, and he asked me if I knew that Kamala Harris “slept her way to the top.” He was a native of San Francisco, and since I didn’t know much about Kamala Harris’s past at the time, I just listened to him as he explained why. Now that she has become a presidential candidate, I decided to look into the truth of that statement.

In 1994, Kamala Harris was dating Willie Brown, then Speaker of the California Assembly. Brown appointed Harris to the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and later to the Medical Assistance Commission. Because she was dating Brown at the time he appointed her, she faced accusations of receiving political favors from her partner.

Although it didn’t look good, Brown stated that he appointed Harris not because of their relationship, but because she was a competent lawyer and public servant, and he even campaigned for her later. Harris’s career matched the experience required for the board positions, and she performed the roles successfully.

To summarize, 30 years ago, Kamala Harris dated a state official for a year, and that official appointed her to some minor positions in the California government. The Republicans now suddenly used the narrative that she “slept her way to the top,” as Fox News personality Tomi Lahren did when she wrote on social media in 2019: “Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown.” What a lame way to attack. (There also has been an allegation that they had an affair while Brown was a married man and this is not true.¹)

I guess the narrative worked since San Francisco locals still talk about events from 30 years ago, even mentioning it to a Korean they just met on a date? 🙄

There’s this San Francisco Chronicle article titled, “Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?” wrote by Brown in 2020. “Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago,” BTW this is short and brilliant article so here goes.²

Of course, appointing someone with whom you have a personal relationship to a government board is not OK for a public official, and I believe Brown should be criticized for this. But calling her “slept her way to the top” is a different story and definitely unfounded and sexist.

As I read on Reddit, “Women seemingly can’t get ahead in the world without some numpty fucks claiming the women exchanged sexual actions for careers.³” Looking at American Twitter, I can see Kamala Harris is facing a lot of sexist attacks and it is sad to me. The reality is that the media and the public focus more on Kamala Harris’s divorce, scandals, and personality than on what she has done as a politician.

Also the lesson here is: If someone is still saying “she slept her way to the top” based on Kamala Harris’s 1-year relationship from 30 years ago, it says more about that person than about Harris.