Kamala Harris
“You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. I want you to remember that, OK? When you want to lead, you lead.”
I was 10 years old, falling asleep on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, thinking the United States would have elected the first female president when I woke up. Instead, I woke up the next day to the disappointing news that Trump was to be the 45th president of the United States. Now, in 2024, we are once again so close to having a female president take office in January.
Kamala Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Following a childhood of moving around the Midwest and California, she attended Howard University in Washington DC, graduating with a degree in political science and economics in 1986. She went directly to law school from college and attended the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.
Following her education, Harris began her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. Between 1990 and 2000, she worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County and San Francisco. She then ran for District Attorney of San Francisco against Hillinan and Fazio. She won with 56% of the vote and became the first person of color to hold this office. She was District Attorney for two terms, serving from 2004-2011. Harris had many notable accomplishments as District Attorney, including creating a Hate Crimes Unit, introducing legislation to ban gun shows at the Cow Palace, and refusing to go back on her pledge to ban the death penalty.
In January 2011, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the Attorney General of California after running against Steve Cooley in the 2010 general election. She became the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian American to be the Attorney General of California. While Attorney General, Harris introduced the Homeowner Bill of Rights, opposed California’s ban on affirmative action, and publicly declared that Prop 8 was unconstitutional.
Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the United States Senate in January 2016 and defeated Loretta Sanchez in the November 2016 election. Her main focus after winning the election was to protect immigrants against the policies President-elect Trump planned to implement during his presidency. Based on the bills Harris supported in the first two years of her time in the Senate, she was determined to be the most “politically left” member of the Senate.
On July 21, 2019, Kamala Harris announced that she would be running for President of the United States in the 2020 election. She participated in two presidential debates throughout her candidacy until she was forced to withdraw due to low polling numbers and a shortage of funds. After dropping out of the race, she endorsed Joe Biden for president and quickly became the frontrunner to be his running mate. On August 11, 2020, Biden announced Kamala to be the vice presidential nominee, making her the first African American, the first Indian American, and the third woman to be picked as the VP nominee. She became the first female Vice President following the Biden-Harris win in the 2020 presidential election.
After months of campaigning for re-election, Biden decided to not accept the Democratic party nomination and instead endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for President. In the first 24 hours of her campaign, Harris raised $81 million, surpassing fundraising records. In addition to Biden, Harris was endorsed by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus, and many more. Harris has officially secured enough Democratic delegate votes to become the Democratic Presidential nominee.
I cannot iterate how important your voice is for the future of our country. If you are over the age of 18, make sure you are registered to vote and that you use your voice at the polls on November 5. If you are seventeen but will be eighteen by election day, check if you live in a state that allows you to register early. Every voice matters. 💙
