Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the vice president-elect of the United States.
A member of the Democratic Party, she will assume office on January 20, 2021, alongside President-elect Joe Biden, after defeating incumbent president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence in the 2020 election. Being of Tamil Indian and Afro-Jamaican descent, she is a multiracial American: Harris will be the first Asian-American, African-American, and Caribbean-American vice president. She will also be the first female vice president of the United States and the highest-ranking elected female official in U.S. history.
Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later to the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco. She was elected attorney general of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Harris has served as the junior United States senator from California since 2017. Harris defeated Loretta Sánchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African-American woman and the first Asian-American to serve in the United States Senate. As a senator, she has advocated for healthcare reform, federal rescheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform. She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault.
Harris ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and ended her campaign on December 3, 2019. She was announced as Biden’s running mate on August 11, 2020. On November 7, 2020, the race was called in favor of the Biden-Harris ticket.
Vice presidential campaign
Main articles: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign and 2020 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
Harris and Joe Biden at their first campaign event after the announcement of her selection as running mate, August 12, 2020.
Campaign logo for the Biden–Harris ticket
In May 2019, senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed the idea of a Biden-Harris ticket. In late February, Biden won a landslide victory in the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary with the endorsement of House Whip Jim Clyburn, followed by more wins on Super Tuesday. In early March, Clyburn suggested that Biden choose a Black woman as his running mate, commenting that “Black women should be rewarded for their loyalty.” In March, Biden committed to selecting a woman as his running mate.
On April 17, 2020, Harris responded to media speculation and said it would be “an honor” to be Biden’s running mate. In late May, amid the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and demonstrations, Biden faced renewed calls to select a Black woman as his running mate, with Harris and Val Demings being noted for their law enforcement credentials.
On June 12, The New York Times reported that Harris was emerging as the frontrunner to be Biden’s running mate, as she was the only African-American woman with the typical political experience of vice presidents. On June 26, CNN reported that more than a dozen people close to Biden’s search process considered Harris one of Biden’s top four contenders, along with Elizabeth Warren, Val Demings, and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
On August 11, 2020, Biden announced he had selected Harris; she is the first African-American, the first Indian-American, and the third woman after Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin to be chosen as a vice presidential candidate for a major party.