Who is Kamala Harris? The Democratic Party’s candidate for president in 2024

The Democratic National Convention is getting under way on Monday. What had been expected to be a somber event is now full of energy. That is thanks to President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek a second term and instead call on the party to place his Vice President, Kamala Harris, at the top of the ticket.

She became the party’s presumptive nominee earlier this month when she secured the necessary number of DNC delegates during a virtual roll call. Her nomination will be made official this week becoming the first Black woman and first South Asian woman to be a presidential candidate for a major US political party.

The eleventh-hour candidate switch by the Democrats has upended race with polls that once showed Trump with a slight advantage over Biden now report that Harris has a slight lead over Trump. Furthermore, as the standard-bearer for the Democrats, she has put four Sun Belt States into play according to new polling.

Who is Kamala Harris? The Democratic Party’s candidate for president in 2024

Harris made history in the United States by becoming the first woman and woman of color to be elected vice president.

When Biden first added her to his ticket for the 2020 elections, he cited his belief that she would fight for Americans who need the most support.

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris - a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants - as my running mate,” said Biden via Twitter at the time.

“I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign,” he said.

Harris responded by saying, “I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for vice president and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.”

What is Kamala Harris’ ethnicity?

The current US vice-president’s father is Jamaican-American and her mother was from India, which would make her the first woman, Asian, African-American president in the history of the country.

Harris initially campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 but dropped out, citing a lack of funds. She eventually threw her support behind Biden and was named his running mate on Aug. 11, 2020, with Biden previously saying he wanted a woman on the ticket. Naming her was an attempt to attract women, voters of color, and some progressives to the Democratic ticket, and with some groups more than others, that strategy worked.

Harris was born and raised in Oakland, California, where she embraced her roots from an early age, largely because of her mother, a breast cancer researcher and prominent civil rights activist.

Her Indian mother and Jamaican father met at a civil rights demonstration. The Democrats’ presidential nominee pick and Maya, her sister, grew up going to similar demonstrations, which led them to learn a lot about the issues facing the country.

Kamala Harris breaking barriers

Winning the vice presidency was not the first glass ceiling the Democrat broke through. In 2011, she became the first female Attorney General of California, and years later, she became the second black woman to serve in the US Senate, representing the state of California.

Harris developed a deep fundraising network during her Senate and White House bids and was instrumental in the Biden campaign raking in record sums of money as the campaign came to an end in 2020. Her selection sparked a burst of excitement in the Democratic base and among the party’s donors.

Her campaign set a fund-raising record pulling in $81 million in her first 24 hours as a candidate from donors both big and small. The generosity toward her war chest continued accumulating $310 million in the last ten days of July, more than double that raised by her opponent over the entire month.

“Harris always made the most sense as a running mate for Biden because she had the ability to help him unify the Democratic coalition across racial and generational lines and was able to spike base enthusiasm,” said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Harris the team player

Accusations from progressives that Harris did not do enough to investigate police shootings and wrongful conviction cases when she was California’s attorney general helped doom her own presidential run but surfaced little during her time as Biden’s running mate.

Harris has often defended her record, saying that she had worked her whole career “to reform the criminal justice system with the understanding that it is deeply flawed and in need of repair.”

Prior to her selection, several Biden aides say that Harris was able to put to rest concerns among some in the then-presidential candidate’s camp that she would be too personally ambitious to make a trustworthy partner.

Harris showed herself to be a team player during the 2020 campaign, taking on a lower-profile role and holding virtual and in-person political events that sometimes drew little news coverage, while often speaking in terms of what Biden would do for the country if elected and making an impassioned case against Trump.

Harris the multi-tasker

Harris juggled her running mate duties with her day job in the Senate. Befitting her background as a prosecutor, she was a deft cross-examiner of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at Barrett’s Senate confirmation, weaving Biden’s campaign message on healthcare and climate change into her line of questioning.

As the Senate’s only Black woman, Harris emerged as a leading voice on racial justice and police reform after Minneapolis police killed African-American George Floyd. She marched with protesters on the streets of Washington and won over some liberal skeptics.

Campaigning for the 2020 elections, Biden was asked on “60 Minutes” why, given his age, he believed Harris would be ready to step into the presidency if something happened to him. Biden rapidly fired off five reasons.

“Number one, her values. Number two, she is smart as a devil, and number three, she has a backbone like a ramrod.”

“Number four, she is really principled. And number five, she has had significant experience in the largest state in the Union in running the justice department that’s only second in size to the United States Justice Department. And obviously, I hope that never becomes a question,” he said.

Harris as Vice President

Vice presidents have long struggled to prove themselves because their role is to support the president and be ready to step in if the president cannot serve. This often means their initiatives and actions are overshadowed by the president’s agenda. This is true for Harris, who has been criticized over how she has defined her role in the Biden administration.

Lately, however, she has taken the lead on the issue of abortion rights after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe vs. Wade. She continues to push for more reproductive freedoms and abortion access throughout the country.

Harris has been tasked with leading efforts on critical issues such as immigration reform, voting rights protection, and addressing the root causes of migration from Central America. Her performance regarding immigration has been criticized in light of the large numbers of illegal immigrants entering the country.

Harris has played a significant role in the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including promoting vaccination efforts and working on economic recovery plans.

The vice president has also represented the United States in various diplomatic engagements, strengthening international relationships and championing global issues such as climate change and women’s rights.

Kamala Harris’ personal life

Harris is married to attorney Douglas Emhoff, who has been supportive of her political endeavors, often accompanying her on the campaign trail. Emhoff’s two children from a previous marriage refer to their stepmother as “Momala.”