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Vice President Kamala Harris has spent more time in Los Angeles than any place outside of Washington, DC, during her tenure, reportedly “annoying” some of her wealthy neighbors — as well as some Democrats who would rather see her on the campaign trail.
Harris, 59, returned to the $2.7 million Brentwood mansion she shares with husband Doug Emhoff for at least 59 days in 2023, according to a review of her public schedules by the Wall Street Journal.
The previous year, the veep was in Tinseltown for at least 46 days, the Journal also noted.
Harris’ presence in the tony neighborhood requires her Secret Service detail to “shut down” the street where the second couple live — irking even their predominantly liberal neighbors.
“Very annoying to be their neighbor,” one anonymous resident told the outlet, while another said they would vote for the Democratic nominee “if she agrees to sell her house.”
Harris’ coast-to-coast travel has also come under scrutiny as a potential distraction from her political efforts — especially since many of her LA stays don’t include public events.
Shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, for example, one Brentwood neighbor put up a sign urging the VP to get back to Washington and get back to work, according to the WSJ.
According to a late 2022 review by the Los Angeles Times, nearly a third of Harris’ stays in LA during her first two years in office were closed to the press.
Taking her vice presidential work home with her has also forced the White House to pay for a 6,500 sq. ft. mansion to shelter some government employees.
That residence was formerly rented for over $29,000 per month as of early 2020, before she took office.
Harris’ retreats often mix political glad-handing and Hollywood donor meet-ups with family time — she and Emhoff reportedly are regulars at the chic Brentwood Country Mart, also favored by the late first lady Nancy Reagan — but are still far fewer in number than President Biden’s stay-cations in Delaware.
Biden, 81, has retired to his residences at Wilmington or Rehoboth Beach for 328 days of his presidency, according to former CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, more than any other 21st century president at this point of their term.
Still, former President Donald Trump and his campaign have used Harris’ record as a prosecutor in the Bay Area and subsequent residency in Los Angeles to tarnish her as a “radical California liberal.”
Harris has pushed back, highlighting her experience during her speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination earlier this month but trying to appeal to Americans outside of the highly liberal Southern California enclave in which she resides.
“I know there are people of various political views watching tonight,” she said in her address to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “And I want you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self.”
While more reserved about her Golden State roots on the national stage, Harris — the first Californian to be the Democratic presidential standard-bearer — told members of the California Democratic Legislative Caucus in January: “I, maybe with a bit of bravado, will repeat what I think we all say: So goes California, goes the nation.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
