California senator Kamala Harris (D.) will officially announce her run for president later this month and set up her campaign headquarters somewhere on the east coast, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Chronicle reports that sources close to the Harris campaign say the official launch will come on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 21, or shortly after.
Harris is beginning a tour to promote her new book, The Truths We Hold, on Wednesday, making stops in Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Despite being relatively new to the U.S. Senate, she is considered one of the frontrunners in what is expected to be a large field of Democratic candidates running for president.
The first term senator is expected to base her campaign somewhere on the east coast to ensure easy access to early primary states and be on the same schedule as major news networks, the report says.
Although Harris will have a strong campaign presence in California, her team wants its national campaign headquarters to be on the East Coast. One reason is that the national cable news outlets, which have become increasingly critical to presidential campaign exposure, all operate on Eastern Time.
There’s also a travel advantage. With the exception of Nevada, most of the first-round Democratic caucuses and primaries are either on the East Coast or in Midwest.
Team Harris wants to be able to fly in and out of various states on short notice. They are looking for a city with quick access to airports with regular flights to California, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other early primary states — that would let Harris continue to hold down her day job in the Senate.
The city that most closely fits the bill is Baltimore, which is near Washington but distant enough to furnish an outsider image. It also has access to three major airports.
Harris was California's attorney general before being elected senator in 2016. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.), a longtime supporter of Harris, expressed doubt that Harris was ready for a presidential run.
"I love Kamala," Feinstein said. "But this is a different kind of thing."