THE BUZZ: GOING WAY BACK— Perhaps no other speaker at this week’s Democratic National Convention, aside from direct family members, knows Kamala Harris on a deeper personal level than Lateefah Simon. Simon, who is favored to win the race to succeed Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee, has a friendship with the presidential nominee that stretches back more than 20 years. They met in the early days of Harris' first campaign for San Francisco district attorney in 2003. That’s why Simon’s prime-time speaking slot at the DNC Wednesday night was closely watched. Her speech was character witness testimony of Harris’ empathetic side as prosecutor sought after by crime victims and leader close to the people. “I saw Kamala Harris holding the hands of sexual-assault survivors,” Simon said during her short-but-passionate speech. “I saw scores of mothers who lost their babies to gun violence, lining up day after day at the courthouse, waiting only to speak to Kamala because they knew that she would hear them.” Simon added, “She hears your story, she carries it with her. When she sees you, she truly sees you.” Giving a prime speaking gig to a first-time House candidate was also a poignant nod to the Bay Area’s next generation of rising political stars. Simon, whom the retiring Lee endorsed for her seat, will likely soon emerge as a major figure in Democratic politics given her proximity to the VP. She is also a protege of Lee, who would pick up her torch of outspoken progressivism. She is expected to be a top surrogate for Harris’ campaign in the coming months, someone who can help dispel Republicans’ attempts to frame Harris as soft-on-crime while detailing what Simon called a “balanced” approach on justice reforms. Playbook spoke with Simon about her early career working under Harris in the San Francisco district attorney's office — an unlikely pairing from the start. It was a job Simon, then a justice-reform activist in her late 20s, never expected to hold. She had no college degree and was a single mother living in low-income housing. She said she was more comfortable wielding a bullhorn and leading protests outside the DA’s office than working inside it. But Simon said her life changed when she met Harris on the campaign trail in 2003. She was struck by Harris’ “grit” as she campaigned on the streets of neighborhoods like the Mission District, which had been hit hard by a wave of crack-cocaine addiction — an unusual place to see a career prosecutor. “She doesn’t have a lot of fear,” Simon recalled. “Kamala was outside at grocery stores, in the hood.” Harris defeated a more progressive incumbent, and she soon called Simon with a job offer to direct reentry services for offenders. Simon said Harris convinced her she could get more done for young people caught up in the legal system by making change inside the system. Simon worked under Harris for nearly four years, during a time when the DA was often criticized by San Francisco progressives for her tough-on-crime approach. Simon said while she occasionally disagreed with the hard edges of Harris’ policies, she also saw a softer side. Together, they launched a new division to help young offenders. She also recalled watching as Harris embraced weeping mothers whose sons, often Black and Latino, were killed from gun violence in the 2000s. “She would say, ‘Because I need them to know I give a damn,’” said Simon, who worked in an adjacent office. “I was like, I will follow Kamala to the ends of the earth.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Today is the final day of the Democratic National Convention. Read more below on all the California updates from Chicago… And follow our @ccadelago and @melmason for reports on the ground. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. | 
