SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With the Democratic National Convention underway, many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ closest allies, friends and family are making the case about why she’s the best candidate to become the next president of the U.S.

Much of Harris’ record from her time as a prosecutor has taken center stage ever since she became the Democratic presidential nominee.

“Kamala Harris is tough as nails. She expected a lot from the people around her, but she expected the most out of herself,” said Maggy Krell, a criminal prosecutor who worked with Harris at the California Department of Justice.

She says she’s excited about the future of the Democratic Party with Harris being at the top of the ticket.

“I think this is such an extraordinary time in our country. We have such an opportunity with her leading the way,” said Maggy Krell.

Krell was a deputy attorney general and later a supervising deputy attorney general when Harris served as California attorney general from 2011 to 2017.

“She shut down for profit colleges. She started a mortgage fraud strike force to go after those that were taking advantage of struggling homeowners. She was first out of the foxhole on sex trafficking in a major way, filing big cases,” Krell noted.

The criminal prosecutor describes her former boss’ legacy as California’s top prosecutor as one that was centered on crime victims and holding predators accountable.

“We went really hard when it came to violent, sexual predators. She did more than anyone in the country on sexual abuse material online and child sex trafficking,” Krell adds. “But she also saw this important lane for rehabilitation for lower-level offenders who were struggling with drug addiction — finding treatment and rehabilitation.”

Louise Renne is another one of Harris’ former colleagues. Renne was the first and only woman to ever serve as San Francisco City Attorney.

Renne hired Harris to run the Family and Children’s Services division 24 years ago. She notes when it comes to Harris as a prosecutor, she’s often viewed as a mix of being tough when needed but also someone who’s embraced criminal justice reform. 

“I think that kind of openness is something that defines Kamala and makes her open to ideas, open to thoughts, but very practical about what’s going to work,” said Renne.

However, California GOP Chairwoman Jessica Milan Patterson describes Harris as being too soft on crime.

“This is an individual that when she was district attorney, she was very slow to prosecute murders. When we had a person who murdered a cop in San Francisco, she did not seek the death penalty,” Patterson said.

In 2004, when she was San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris faced political backlash from police unions and officials from both sides of the aisle for declining to pursue the death penalty in the murder of SFPD officer Isaac Espinoza. 

Patterson also blames Harris for some of the effects of Proposition 47, which is the 2014 voter-approved ballot measure that lowered some nonviolent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

It also set a $950 threshold for felony shoplifting charges. Advocates say the goal was to reduce overcrowding in California prison, but Patterson says Prop. 47 has emboldened criminals across the state. 

“To this day, Kamala Harris bears real responsibility for what Prop. 47 has done to our state. Even the LA Times and Sacramento Bee have called her out for misleading voters in her role as California attorney general about the negative impacts this law would have on public safety,” said Patterson in a statement.

Former President Donald Trump echoed some of Patterson’s comments recently and said Harris destroyed California with policies such as Proposition 47.

“You have these thieves going into stores with calculators, calculating how much it is because if it’s less than $950, they can rob it and not get charged. That was her who did that,” said Trump.

Despite Trump’s remarks, thefts under $950 are still considered a crime in California.

Harris, who did not take a position on Prop 47 when she was the state attorney general, took heat from some democrats for staying neutral on the controversial measure which continues to divide the California Democrats to this day.

As for Krell, she says she’s grateful to have worked closely with Harris and looks forward to voters across the country getting to know her better in the months leading up to the election.

“I’m confident that she can win and I’m really confident in the kind of leader that she’ll be because I’ve already seen it,” said Krell.