EYNTK About Potential US Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris

Big news came out of the U.S. election race this weekend. Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he was removing himself from the presidential race and would not be seeking a second term as President of the United States.

After weeks of speculation and his own party encouraging the move, Biden wrote a letter to inform the world of his decision. He then endorsed Kamala Harris, the current Vice President, to become the nominee for the Democrats.   

My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

But who exactly is Joe Biden’s current right-hand woman? Here is everything you need to know about the potential first-ever female President of the United States, Kamala Harris.

Who is Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris is a 59-year-old politician, lawyer and author from Oakland, California. 

She is the current Vice President of the United States and has been in the role since 2021. She is also the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to have been elected for this position.

Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is from India and her father, Donald J. Harris, is from Jamaica. They both moved to the U.S. for their respective education. Shyamala was a breast cancer scientist, and Donald is a professor at Stanford University. 

She has a younger sister, Maya, who is a lawyer and public policy advocate who worked with Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.

Kamala has been married to fellow lawyer Doug Emhoff since 2014. He has two children from a previous marriage. He is the first second gentleman of the United States. 

 

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Kamala has a Bachelor’s in political science and economics from Howard University and then got her law degree from the University of California Hastings before being admitted to the California Bar in 1990.

Her Career Before Becoming Vice President

The same year she was admitted to the California Bar, Kamala was hired as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. 

She then was elected as the San Francisco district attorney in 2004. 

In 2010, she became the California attorney general. She held this role until 2017. Towards the end of that role, she joined the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Kamala, along with Joe Biden, were amongst the favoured candidates for the Democratic party in the lead-up to the 2020 election. However, she would pull out in December 2019 due to a shortage of funds. 

In August 2020, Biden announced that Kamala would be his running mate in the election. In January 2021, she became the Vice President after Joe Biden was made President.

 

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Kamala’s Work and Advocacy

Kamala has done immense work throughout her law and political career, which spans over 30 years. She has spoken out on many issues currently affecting many Americans, from healthcare to the economy to climate change. She also has been an important voice for abortion, immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.

Abortion has been a major issue in the U.S. after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Kamala is fully in support of legislation that would make abortion legal across the whole country rather than only in certain states like it is at the moment. This has been something she has supported ever since she was elected to the Senate.

Kamala has spoken out about immigration and has strongly criticised Trump and the Republican party’s wall between the U.S-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration from Mexico. As Vice President, she has also been tasked with finding the root cause of immigration from Latin America. In 2023, she announced pledges of $950 million from private companies to support Central America.

She has been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights and officiated one of the first same-sex marriages in 2004 when it became legal while she was the District Attorney of San Francisco. During that time, she also established a hate crimes unit to investigate crimes against LGBTQ+ youth.

Kamala has been criticised recently for failing to condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestine, but many believe that her stance may change if she is running for president.

What’s Next for Kamala?

Joe Biden removing himself from the presidential race only a few months before the election on November 5 has made things challenging for the Democratic Party.

Kamala has only been endorsed by Biden so far, but most get the support of the delegates in order to become the new nominee. While it is not 100% guaranteed, the likelihood of her becoming the new nominee is very high.

 

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She will then have to battle it out with former U.S. President Donald Trump to secure American votes. 

Despite Trump being the first president to face numerous criminal charges and be convicted, he still has a large amount of support in the U.S. The Republicans and Democrats will once again face a tight race as has been the case during the last few elections.

While we do not know for sure what is next for Kamala Harris, it would be amazing to see the U.S. elect their first-ever female president. After 46 men, it’s more than time for some female power to lead one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Words by Amélie Mahony

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