US Elections: All you need to know about the Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris
File photo of Kamala Harris. Photograph:( Reuters )
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Kamala Harris' rise in US politics has been historic and also fraught with some controversies. WION gets you a quick explainer on the Democratic presidential nominee.
Kamala Harris' rise in US politics has been historic and also fraught with some controversies. WION gets you a quick explainer on the Democratic presidential nominee.
Kamala Harris is the current Vice President of the USA and the Democratic Party’s nominee for president of the United States. Ever since her nomination after President Joe Biden stepped away from the race, Harris has been at the forefront of her party’s campaign against the Republican Party’s nominee Donald Trump.
Here’s all you need to know about Harris before the much-awaited US election and results:
Childhood
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Both of her parents were first-generation immigrants to the US.
Throughout her childhood, Harris lived in multiple towns across the country, mostly college towns owing to both of her parents having worked in teaching jobs.
Harris has often invoked her relationship with her mother and the way in which her childhood has influenced her politics.
Education and Career
Harris attended the Howard University and earned an undergraduate degree in political science and economics.
Harris then studied law at the University of California and became the Deputy District Attorney, of Alameda, California.
Harris shot to fame as the District Attorney of San Francisco and her work with first-time drug offenders has been noteworthy.
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In 2017, Harris became part of the United States Senate.
In 2021, she was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States in the Joe Biden administration, and scripted history by becoming the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to hold the powerful position.
Race to the White House
Harris has courted controversies on multiple occasions. She has been criticised for her on-ground efforts to make the lives of migrants and queer people better.
But her work for abortion rights and the rights of women made her popular with a lot of voting blocs, especially women. Celebrities like Beyonce and even former president Barack Obama have supported Kamala Harris in her run for the White House.
If Harris makes it to the White House, she will be the first woman to become the President of the United States.
