Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night, and as she continues to make her campaign push she has a Colorado native on her team.

Sergio Gonzales, who serves as Harris’ campaign deputy chief of staff, first advised Harris on policy when she was in the U.S. Senate.

“I have been very honored to be part of this journey for a long time and to see the leadership that is very smart, strong, capable, empathetic leadership of Kamala Harris,” Gonzales said. “She is an incredible leader, champion and fighter for the people.”

Gonzales called Harris a “happy warrior” and a “fighter” on the campaign trail. 

That kind of fight resonated with Gonzales, whose grandfather, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, led the Chicano movement in Colorado in the 1960s.

“He really was a game changer when it came to fighting against discrimination in schools,” Gonzales said about his grandfather. “I was really raised with the values around community and making sure that we’re leaving our community stronger and in a better place.”

That mission was further ignited in Gonzales on April 20, 1999, when he was a junior at Columbine High School during the deadly mass shooting there.

 
“That was a big awakening for me in terms of public policy,” he said. “And the intersection of public policy and politics and that is when I started becoming much more involved and aware of gun safety policies and the issue of gun violence and it’s something that I’ve continued to work on through today.”

Throughout his political career, he served on the campaigns of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet’s race in 2010, in which he led programs that resulted in record Latino turnout.

“People are able to work together who come from different cultures and different places and different politics,” Gonzales said. “There’s always been a sense of bipartisanship in Colorado and when I worked for Senator Bennet in many figuring out ways to work together to solve problems.”

That experience has prepared him for his job now and the work ahead of the election.

“Once were past the convention we’re into September and people start voting,” he said. “Ballots get mailed across the country and so we’re really in the thick of it right now but we’re going to continue working really hard to make sure were successful in November.”

Gonzales works closely with campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez who is the granddaughter of another activist, the late labor leader Cesar Chavez.

“Her grandfather was an incredible community builder,” Gonzales said. “He was an incredible coalition builder. He was an incredible organizer and at the heart. Julie is one of the best organizers in the country.”

He’s busy on the campaign trail traveling all over the country but says Colorado is never too far from his heart.

“I’m still very much a Coloradan at heart. My family and friends are still based here so I think I just miss the outdoors the most and the mountains, of course.”

And as for his future in politics, Gonzales says he is singularly focused on winning in November.