Kamala Is More Left-Leaning Than Americans Know

Kamala Harris, the former U.S. Senator often labeled as the most left-leaning member of Congress, is on track to secure the Democratic nomination and potentially face former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Harris’s political ideology appears to have evolved significantly over her career, and understanding her current position requires a look at her past actions and votes.

Initially, Harris built her reputation as a tough-on-crime district attorney in San Francisco and later as California’s Attorney General. During this period, she drew criticism from more liberal activists who felt her focus on law enforcement was too conservative. Indeed, some progressives even labeled her as “right-wing” due to her tough stances on crime.

However, Harris managed to shift her image by adopting more progressive positions during her tenure as a U.S. Senator. She consistently cast votes that aligned with far-left values and solidified her progressive credentials. Her record includes a range of notable statistics:

• In 2019, GovTrack.us, a nonpartisan watchdog, ranked Harris as the “most liberal” of all U.S. senators.
• The Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), a prominent liberal activist group, awarded her a perfect 100% score for her Senate voting record in 2017 and 2018. While her stance has varied over the years, her overall record remains strongly progressive.
• Harris achieved a 90% rating from the ACLU for her votes during the 116th Congress (2019-2020) and a perfect 100% rating for the 117th Congress, before becoming Vice President.
• Her lifetime ratings from the ACLU, NAACP, and Planned Parenthood are also notably high, reflecting her alignment with progressive and pro-abortion policies.

Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe v. Wade and removed federal abortion protections, Harris characterized abortion as a “constitutional right” and described the situation as a “healthcare crisis.” She has remained a staunch advocate for abortion rights, a stance that Democrats are hoping to leverage in the election against Trump, who supports states’ rights to determine abortion laws.

According to the Sacramento Bee in August 2020, Harris’s voting record was one of the most liberal in the Senate, with notable votes including support for expanding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) and opposing President Trump’s emergency declaration for the border wall.

Conservative groups have consistently rated Harris as extremely liberal:

• The Club for Growth has given her a dismal 4% lifetime rating, reflecting her support for higher taxes.
• CPAC assigns her a lifetime voting record of 4.45%.
• Heritage Action for America awarded her a 0% rating from 2019 to 2020 and a lifetime rating of just 4%.

Should Harris win the Democratic nomination, she will face the challenge of defending her progressive record, especially in light of her support for the $2.3 trillion omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief package in December 2020. Critics argue that such federal spending contributed significantly to the inflationary pressures experienced during the early years of the Biden administration.