The Rise of Willie Brown

Harris' relationship with former San Francisco mayor willie brown was instrumental to her career. Brown put harris on a pair of state boards that required not much work and paid her more than 400 thousand dollars across five years, on top of her salary as a prosecutor. He helped her too, though in a way that was less immediately material, but arguably far more enduringly portant. It's hard to think honestly about the origins of the rise of harris without grappling with the reality of the role of willie brown.