As Reid Hoffman Backs Harris, Like-Minded Business Owners
Say, 'Yes We Kam'. More founders are backing Vice President Kamala Harris as she begins campaigning, with less than four months until election day.
By Melissa Angell, Policy correspondent
A startling debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Trump surviving an assassination attempt and picking a running mate. Biden getting Covid again, and then withdrawing from the presidential race just four days later and naming Vice President Kamala Harris as his chosen successor.
Harris is now the presumed Democratic nominee, a title that is expected to become official next month during the Democratic National Convention, after she won over enough delegates to snag the nomination in just two days.
The momentum she's gained among entrepreneurs is notable. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in a post on X said: "Kamala Harris is the right person at the right time. Donald Trump and JD Vance are promising an agenda that will wreak havoc on the American people."
Some small-business owners share his excitement. Nancy Clark, who owns Drive Brand Studio, a Conway, New Hampshire-based advertising company, says she was in her garage building a free little library when her husband joined her to share the news.
"I was immediately filled with hope and got encouraged again," Clark says, noting that while she thinks Harris's policies will closely align with Biden's, it's still unclear what exactly Harris will do if she gets a shot at the Oval Office. Clark herself is paying attention to women's rights and affordable health care.
Tim Ma says he's also feeling cheered by the announcement. He owns multiple restaurants, including Laoban Dumplings, a D.C.-based dumpling shop that sells its handcrafted dumplings nationwide. "In the food industry here in D.C., we are greatly affected by who's in the White House and who's in Congress," Ma says.
For his part, Ma has met the vice president before, having been invited to her residence back in January 2023 to cook for her and about 150 attendees for the White House's first Lunar New Year celebration. There's real significance, he says, in seeing a government "that includes us."
Ma adds that there's a sense of pride associated with "being Asian American, and seeing someone of your culture in a place as high as that."
Read More: 7 Tips for Female Founders and Women in Tech
With less than four months until election day, Harris faces the task of winning over voters in record time. But for now, the energy does seem to be on her side, even if time is not.
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Flirting with another run: Linda McMahon, who previously helmed the Small Business Administration, signaled last week at the Republican National Convention that she'd be open to public office again should Donald Trump reclaim the White House.
Looking back: "When I was SBA administrator and we put through those tax reductions, there wasn't one small business that I talked to that didn't say they wouldn't use that benefit to be able to expand and grow their business." --Former SBA administrator Linda McMahon
Eye on Washington: The House Committee on Small Business will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. today to examine the SBA's voter registration agreement with Michigan.
Predict this: Democrats are feeling invigorated with VP Kamala Harris at the top of the presidential ticket. But what would a President Harris actually do for small businesses?
Photo: Getty Images.