Vice President Kamala Harris in San Francisco for sold-out fundraiser

SAN FRANCISCO - There was a heightened police presence as Vice President Kamala Harris waved to supporters from the backseat of a U.S. Secret Service SUV on Saturday afternoon ahead of a campaign stop, as the motorcade left the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco a little more than five weeks before election day.

"Lots of enhanced security," said Gwyneth Paulson, a Fairmont guest in town from Portland, Oregon. "Adds a bit of excitement to our stay."

"We were walking down to Chinatown, and we saw all the police and thought ‘maybe we’ll get a chance to see her’," said Joe Barnett of Sacramento.

The democratic nominee hosted a fundraiser at the Palace of Fine Arts, to a sold-out crowd, speaking for about 25 minutes.

Harris pledged to restore Roe v. Wade if elected, and attacked her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, over his "concept" for health care, and what she describes as his lack of a plan to meet the needs of the American people.

The price of admission— anywhere from $500 per ticket to $250,000 for a pair of tickets and a photo op with Harris.

"To see the next President of the United States," said Darcy Babbitt of Oakland. 

"When she first started to run for president, once Biden dropped out, I kind of had my doubts given what happened during her initial presidential campaign in 2019, but she has completely won me over," said Anita Stork of Hillsborough.

This is likely Harris’s final campaign stop in the Bay Area ahead of the election, with the focus shifting to battleground states in the final stretch.

St. Mary’s College professor of politics Corey Cook suggests Harris is focusing on closing the gap on issues that matter to Republican voters.

"She’s advertising right now on college football, which again, historically, democrats don’t do," said Cook. "Obviously targeting disproportionately those viewers leaning a little bit conservative, and they certainly lean male and younger."

For one mother-and-daughter duo, the possibility of Harris shattering the glass ceiling as the first woman to serve as president is a big deal.

"That’s really exciting for me to see as a woman leader and to have her see," said Elizabeth Warner of Piedmont, referring to her daughter Claire.

"She’s proof that you can really do and be anything," said Claire.

The Oakland native is out-raising her republican opponent, but the two are neck and neck in the polls, with early voting already underway in some states.

Air Force Two was scheduled to leave San Francisco at 4:25 Saturday afternoon.

Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff is expected to speak at a campaign event on Sunday in Menlo Park, according to the White House.