Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is an American politician, currently serving as the senator from California. She is also the vice presidential nominee of Democratic Party for the 2020 US presidential election. With her nomination for vice president, Harris has added new milestones in US political history. She is the first Asian-American and the first African-American person to achieve this feat. She is also the third female vice presidential candidate to be nominated by a major party.

Early life and education

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964. She was born to Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris. Her mother was from India, who came to the US in 1959. Shyamala worked as a biologist and is known for her pioneering research on progesterone receptor gene. Her work contributed to further research on breast cancer. Harris’s father Donald came to US from Jamaica in 1961. At that time, Jamaica was a British colony. Donald completed his graduation at Berkeley and was conferred with PhD in economics in 1966. He is professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University.

Kamala Harris did her schooling at Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec. After her high school, Harris got a graduate degree in political science and economics from Howard University in 1986. Later she graduated with a degree in law from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In 1990, she joined the California Bar. In 2014, Harris married Douglas Emhoff, an attorney by profession.

Professional career

Harris started her professional career in 1990 as the deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. In 2002, she became the district attorney of San Francisco after defeating Terence Hallinan. She had a comfortable win, getting 56 percent of the votes. She became the first individual of color to hold the office of California’s district attorney. In 2011, Harris was sworn in as the attorney general of California. She is the first Asian American and first African American to have achieved this feat. She was re-elected as the California attorney general in 2014 as well.

Political career

Harris was elected senator from California in 2016, where she defeated Loretta Sanchez, a fellow Democrat in the general election. She managed to register a comfortable win, getting more than sixty percent of the votes. Harris has been the popular choice ever since she had started her election campaign in 2015. She was endorsed by both Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Personal pursuits

Kamala Harris hobbies include cooking and crochet. She likes to keep updated with current affairs at both national and international level. She is also a writer and her publications include one children’s book and two non-fiction books.