"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When 14 Democrats running for president descend on San Francisco this weekend to woo activists in the state that brands itself as the nation’s most liberal, they’ll be walking straight into a party in crisis as it attempts to move past a #MeToo firestorm involving its former chairman.

Home state Sen. Kamala Harris, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are among the candidates coming to court thousands of party faithful at the California Democratic Party’s annual convention, a major draw for activists who get far fewer chances to interact with presidential hopefuls than their counterparts in traditional early-voting states.

But they’ll be sharing the weekend’s spotlight with an election for a new party chair. Former chairman Eric Bauman resigned in November, weeks after Democrats made sweeping electoral gains, amid allegations he drank on the job and sexually harassed and abused staff. Three lawsuits have been filed against Bauman and the state party, alleging leaders failed to stop Bauman’s behavior or retaliated against those who complained."

santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/california-dems-in-crisis-as-presidential-hopefuls-descend/article_f3d8653d-befa-5e45-8461-5660f255a37e.html

"Kamala Harris’ first significant political role was an appointment by her powerful then-boyfriend Willie Brown, three decades her senior, to a California medical board that has been criticized as a landing spot for patronage jobs and kickbacks.

Then 30, Harris was dating 60-year-old Willie Brown, at the time the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly, when he placed her on the California Medical Assistance Commission in 1994. The position paid over $70,000 per year, $120,700 in current money, and Harris served on the board until 1998.

The medical commission met twice a month, and Harris, a United States senator for California since 2017 and now a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, missed about 20% of the meetings each year, according to commission records obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Harris had no medical background, according to a copy of her resume that she submitted to Brown at the time. Her experience consisted of four years as a deputy prosecutor, a handful of summer jobs and internships, and a volunteer position at a hospital fundraising group.

According to state records of the time, members of the committee had to be "selected from persons with experience in management of hospital services, risk management insurance or prepaid health programs, the delivery of health services, the management of county health systems, and a representative of recipients of service.”

washingtonexaminer.com/politics/kamala-harris-launched-political-career-with-120k-patronage-job-from-boyfriend-willie-brown