LOS ANGELES — And just like that, a Kamala Harris campaign pin went from swag to souvenir, as the senator announced Tuesday that she was ending her campaign for president.
“I’ll still wear it,” said Harris supporter and California Democrat Nicole Phillis.
Phillis still hopes 2020 will be the year a woman wins the White House, finally breaking the glass ceiling.
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“It was important last time too, but we didn’t quite get there,” Phillis said.
She’s supported Harris since she met her on an immigration panel in 2014. She thought the senator’s law and order background would appeal to Trump supporters, giving her an upper hand in the general election.
When Phillis saw her favorite candidate at the state convention in Long Beach last month, she thought the campaign was going all the way.
“She gave no inkling this was on the horizon,” Phillis said. “When people asked how her campaign was doing, she said she was all in, in Iowa.”
But Harris officially suspended her campaign on Tuesday, leaving supporters like Phillis reeling.
“I am a presidential primary orphan. I don’t know who I will support,” she said.
Phillis thinks Harris was the casualty of a crowded field. It’s one of the reasons she decided to make a hefty donation to the senator’s campaign. Sure enough, Harris blamed money for her campaign’s demise.
“I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete,” Harris said in a blog post Tuesday.
At work, Phillis posted a status update, calling Harris a “profile in courage.”
Her friends responded suggesting other candidates to support, but Phillis plans to wait and see who’s still running in 2020.