Mayor Willie Brownand his mistress Kamala Harris.
Willie Brown is still married to his wife Blanche Vitero.
They have three children.
Blanche Vitero
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown admitted this week to an extramarital affair with Kamala Harris.
Brown also admitted to giving Harris her first state jobs.
In a short article in the San Francisco Chronicle Brown admitted to the extra-marital affair and to appointing Harris to two state commissions.
Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago. Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was Assembly speaker.
And I certainly helped with her first race for district attorney in San Francisco. I have also helped the careers of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and a host of other politicians.
Willie Brown gave his young mistress her first state positions totaling more than $400,000 in five years.
He later helped her win election in California.
The OC Register reported:
According to the San Francisco Weekly, Harris and Brown met in 1994 when he was speaker of the state Assembly. He was 60, she was 29.
Prior to her running for office, Brown appointed Harris to two patronage positions in state government, the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission. These positions paid handsomely, more than $400,000 over five years.
At one point Brown and Harris were the talk of the town.
Right before Brown was sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco, legendary San Francisco columnist Herb Caen implied that the self described “Ayatollah of the Assembly” and “a girlfriend” would soon get married. In his book, “Basic Brown,” Brown quoted his wife Blanche as responding to the column by saying, “Listen, she may have him at the moment, but come inauguration day and he’s up there on the platform being sworn in, I’ll be the b***h holding the Bible.”
The couple broke up, but the friendship and political alliance remained.
In 2003, Harris decided to run for district attorney of the city and county of San Francisco. Brown assisted this campaign by raising money on her behalf and introducing her to deep-pocketed donors.
