SAN ANTONIO — Attorney Doug Emhoff, the spouse of vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, visited San Antonio Monday to tour the San Antonio Food Bank and hear about its efforts to serve thousands of Texans before and during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Food Bank saw the need for services grow from around 60,000 clients per week before the pandemic to 120,000 clients during; a spokesperson says that is still the current level of need.
"Why are we here? Why did it go from 60,000 to 120,000 after COVID? Because there hasn't been a plan on COVID from Day 1," Emhoff said. "COVID has wreaked havoc on the economy here in Texas and everywhere else, so look, it's pretty simple, Biden/Harris have a plan for COVID on day 1; they're going to rebuild the economy."
Emhoff hit the trail with Senator Harris in September, and he teamed up with Dr. Jill Biden, spouse of former Vice President Joe Biden, to meet with military families in Nebraska and hear from people in New Hampshire with pre-existing conditions about their experiences with the Affordable Care Act. Now, he hopes a trip to Texas could help the campaign connect with voters in this state as well.
"Look at the disparate impact on communities here in Texas," Emhoff said. "Deaths from COVID. Families suffering. I’ve been to Texas a lot virtually. I was just in the Rio Grande Valley; I met with an activist whose father just died, another who just went to the ICU. COVID is real, it’s serious, it’s dangerous, and that’s what people are seeing here.”
Current Second Lady Karen Pence has also hit the trail this year, hoping to help keep President Donald Trump and her husband, Vice President Mike Pence, in the White House.
If former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Harris win in November, Emhoff would become the nation's first "Second Gentleman." He says he would like to help bring attention to issues involving access to justice; as well as reducing the inequalities he learned more about during the campaign.
"The longer I’ve been on the trail, listening to issues around the country like food insecurity, which is an issue here – it’s really access to opportunity," Emhoff said. " Access to fairness. Access to living the American dream.”
In-person early voting in Texas begins October 13. Mail-in ballot voting is already underway.