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Kamala Harris's late gay former campaign manager, Jim Rivaldo, also got Harvey Milk elected

Luke Thomas/Fog City Journal (used with permission)

The vice president often credits gay political operative Jim Rivaldo with her success.

Christopher Wiggins

Christopher Wiggins is a senior national reporter for The Advocate. He has a rich career in storytelling and highlighting underrepresented voices. Growing up in a bilingual household in Germany, his German mother and U.S. Army father exposed him to diverse cultures early on, influencing his appreciation for varied perspectives and communication. His work in Washington, D.C., primarily covers the nexus of public policy, politics, law, and LGBTQ+ issues. Wiggins' reporting focuses on revealing lesser-known stories within the LGBTQ+ community. Key moments in his career include traveling with Vice President Kamala Harris and interviewing her in the West Wing about LGBTQ+ support. In addition to his national and political reporting, Wiggins represents The Advocate in the White House Press Pool and is a member of several professional journalistic organizations, including the White House Correspondents’ Association, Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, and Society of Professional Journalists. His involvement in these groups highlights his commitment to ethical journalism and excellence in the field. Follow him on X/Twitter @CWNewser (https://twitter.com/CWNewser) and Threads @CWNewserDC (https://www.threads.net/@cwnewserdc).

Cwnewser

As Vice PresidentKamala Harris stepped into the role ofDemocratic nominee for president, following PresidentJoe Biden’s decision to step aside from reelection and endorse her candidacy, Harris has acknowledged that she owes much of her political career to her late first campaign manager, a gay man named Jim Rivaldo.

Known for his strategic brilliance, Rivaldo played a pivotal role not only in Harris’s early political career, working on her 2003 campaign to be San Francisco district attorney, but also in the groundbreaking campaign of gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

At a July fundraiser in Massachusetts, one day before Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 election, Harris shared her deep admiration and respect for Rivaldo, emphasizing his indelible impact on her political journey. “He talked about how Harvey would say that those who oppose progress will always try to suggest that a movement for freedom is somehow subversive,” Harris said to a crowd of more than 1,000 people in the LGBTQ+ summer hot spot Provincetown. She continued, “Freedom strengthens who we are as a nation when we fight to expand rights rather than to strip them away,” drawing applause from the audience.