Kamala Harris could become the first woman to be president of the United States of America. After 46 male presidents, tonight the Democratic candidate could be named the forty-seventh president of the world’s leading power.

Harris took over as the candidate after incumbent president Joe Biden stepped aside last July. At that time, the polls clearly pointed to a victory for Republican Donald Trump, after several moments in which Biden showed signs of weakness, understandable at 81 years old. Harris, his vice president, took up the challenge and led the Democratic ticket to the White House. Since Harris took over the campaign, the polls have brought her closer and closer to Trump and the result is impossible to predict as Americans head to vote.

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Harris: prosecutor by profession

Kamala Devi Harris (born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964) studied political science and economics at Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1989, she returned to California to pursue legal studies. She earned her law degree from the prestigious Hastings College of Law and, a year later, began working as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California.

Eight years later, she was appointed managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. In 2004, after defeating her competitors, she was appointed District Attorney of San Francisco, where she played a significant role and earned a reputation as a tough, tenacious fighter.

Shaping Kamala’s political role

After seven years as district attorney, Harris became Attorney General of the state of California – a position that has a distinctly political dimension. In fact, in 2017, she stepped down from her role as attorney general and joined the US Senate. She served as a senator throughout Donald Trump’s presidency, her current opponent, and in early 2019, she announced her candidacy for the Democratic primaries ahead of the 2020 election.

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Joe Biden’s right hand woman

Her campaign as a candidate lasted just under a year. In December 2019, Harris announced her withdrawal from the race for the Democratic leadership and later endorsed Biden.

In August 2020, during his campaign against Trump, Biden named Kamala Harris as his running mate, creating the Biden-Harris ticket – a partnership that was set to repeat in this election had Biden not withdrawn.

On January 20, 2021, Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, making history as the first woman to take this office.