Kamala Harris

Who Is Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. After attending Howard University and the University of California's Hastings College of the Law, she embarked on a rise through the California legal system, emerging as state attorney general in 2010. Following the November 2016 elections, Harris became just the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American to win a seat in the U.S. Senate. On Martin Luther King Jr.Day 2019, she declared her candidacy for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

2020 Presidential Race

On January 21, 2019, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day interview on Good Morning America, California Senator Kamala Harris announced she was running for president in 2020.

One of the top Democratic candidates, Harris joined a field that already included Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a bid to push President Donald Trump from the White House after one term.

U.S. Senator

In November 2016, Harris handily defeated Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for a U.S. Senate seat from California, thereby becoming just the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American to enter the Senate.

Harris has since joined the chamber's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on the Budget. She has supported a single-payer healthcare system and introduced legislation to increase access to outdoor recreation sites in urban areas and provide financial relief in the face of rising housing costs.

Harris has also made a name for herself from her spot on the Judiciary Committee, particularly for her pointed questioning of Brett Kavanaugh, who faced accusations of sexual assault after being nominated for Supreme Court justice in 2018, and of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions during a 2017 hearing that delved into alleged collusion between the Trump team and Russian agents.

California Attorney General

Harris continued her political ascent by narrowly beating Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley for California attorney general in November 2010, making her both the first African-American and the first woman to hold the position.

She quickly made an impact in her role by pulling out of negotiations for a settlement from the country's five largest financial institutions for improper mortgage practices, eventually scoring a $20 million payout in 2012 that was five times the original proposed figure for her state.

The attorney general also made waves for her refusal to defend Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot measure that was deemed unconstitutional by a federal court. After the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an attempt to appeal the ruling in 2013, Harris officiated the first same-sex marriage in California since Prop 8 was initially enacted.

Additional accomplishments include a successful lawsuit against the false advertising of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain, as well as continued legal pursuit of the classified advertising service Backpage, which led to its CEO pleading guilty to facilitating prostitution and money laundering after Harris moved on to the Senate.

Parents and Ethnicity

Harris' mother, Shyamala, emigrated from India to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where she met Harris' Jamaican-born father, Donald. Shyamala carved out a career as a renowned breast-cancer researcher, while Donald became a Stanford University economics professor.

Husband and Children

Harris married lawyer Douglas Emhoff on August 22, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California. She is the stepmother of his two children, Ella and Cole, who affectionately call her "S-Mamala."

Background

Kamala Devi Harris was born October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Reared in a predominantly African-American neighborhood of Berkeley, she was brought to civil rights demonstrations as a toddler and sang in a Baptist choir. Her mother also ensured that Harris and her younger sister, Maya, maintained ties to their Indian heritage by raising them with Hindu beliefs and taking them to her home country every couple of years.

Harris' parents divorced when she was seven years old, and at age 12 she moved with her mother and sister to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She learned to speak some French during her time in Quebec and demonstrated her burgeoning political instincts by organizing a protest against a building owner who wouldn't allow neighborhood kids to play on the lawn.

Education

Harris attended Westmount High School in Quebec, where she founded a dance troupe with a friend. Returning to the States to enter Howard University in Washington, D.C., she was elected to the liberal arts student council and joined the debate team, en route to a B.A. in political science and economics. Harris then enrolled at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, earning her J.D. in 1989.

Early Career

After earning admittance to the State Bar of California in 1990, Harris began her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County. She became managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office in 1998, and in 2000 she was appointed chief of its Community and Neighborhood Division, during which time she established the state's first Bureau of Children’s Justice.

San Francisco District Attorney

In 2003, Harris defeated incumbent Terence Hallinan, her former boss, to become San Francisco district attorney. Her accomplishments in this role include the launch of the "Back on Track" initiative that cut recidivism by offering job training and other educational programs for low-level offenders.

However, Harris also drew criticism for adhering to a campaign pledge and refusing to seek the death penalty for a gang member convicted of the 2004 killing of police officer Isaac Espinoza.

Kamala Harris' Books

Harris published two books in early 2019: The Truths We Hold: An American Journey reflects on her personal relationships and upbringing, and Superheroes Are Everywhere, another memoir rendered in picture-book form for kids.

She first became an author in 2009 with Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer, which explores her philosophy and ideas for criminal-justice reform.

Personal

Earlier in her career, Harris was involved in a relationship with former San Francisco Mayor and State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. She enjoys music and cooking in her spare time

Tuesday, January 29, 2019