WHO IS KAMALA HARRIS

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is the US Vice-President-elect. She is set to become the first woman, the first Black woman, and the first woman of Indian heritage, to become Vice-President of the United States. President-elect Joe Biden and Harris successfully took on the incumbent President Donald Trump-Mike Pence regime in the 2020 elections.

Moments after it was revealed that they had won, she called Biden, and laughing, said to him: "We did it. We did it, Joe. You're going to be the next president of the United States."

We did it, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/oCgeylsjB4
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 7, 2020

Who is Kamala Harris?

Harris was always seen as a moderate when compared with other far-left democrats like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. In her presidential campaign last year, Harris presented herself as someone who could appeal to both progressives and moderates. Rather than trying to upend the economy, her policy thinking was centered around incremental, targeted results, particularly focusing on marginalised groups like women, people of colour and low-income Americans. Harris eventually dropped out of the race in December 2019 with low polling numbers, and later endorsed Biden.

Born in Oakland, California, Harris is the daughter of an Indian-born mother and a Jamaican-born father. She attended Howard University and is a member of a prominent black sorority 'Alpha Kappa Alpha'. She was the first black woman to be the San Francisco district attorney and the first Asian American and black woman attorney general of California. The 55-year-old was elected to the US Senate in 2016 with a landslide victory.

Harris often argues that her identity makes her uniquely suited to fight for people who have been traditionally ignored.

She married lawyer Doug Emhoff in 2014, with her sister Maya officiating the ceremony.

Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate

Though Biden announced that he would pick a woman as his running mate, Harris was not seen as a favourite. Harris likely pipped Senator Janet Rice because of the latter’s lack of experience in domestic electoral politics. Biden settled on Harris only after an exhaustive review that forged new political alliances, deepened existing rivalries and further elevated a cohort of women as leaders in their party.

The Kamala Harris factor in US elections

In choosing Harris, the Biden campaign was betting on her experience, the record of governance and racial diversity. Harris was tasked with endearing herself to voters who usually vote Republican but do not support Trump, encouraging them to vote for her party rather than stay home on the election day. The campaign hoped that while Biden was inclined to focus more on the foreign policy, Harris could be more engaged with domestic politics.

KAMALA HARRIS NEWS

Biden will be a president who represents the best in us: Kamala Harris
Joe Biden will be a president who represents the best of America, his deputy and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has said, ...| November 28, 2020, Saturday
Pennsylvania certifies election results; declares Joe Biden the winner
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said that he has signed the certificate of ascertainment for the slate of electors for Biden and ...| November 24, 2020, Tuesday
More members of Trump's own party say it's time for him to accept defeat
"It's past time to start a transition, to at least cooperate with a transition. I'd rather have a president who has more than one ...| November 23, 2020, Monday
US presidential elections: Trump targets Michigan to overturn results
In a brazen step, the president invited Republican state leaders in Michigan to the White House as he and his allies try to ...| November 20, 2020, Friday
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris team 'very good set of people': Bill Gates
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates described the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris team as a "very good set of people" without "outliers" ...| November 20, 2020, Friday
Trump challenged election results in key states but can he win them back?
In order to reverse last week's results and get the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Trump would need to move ...| November 19, 2020, Thursday
PM Modi speaks to Joe Biden; discusses Covid-19 pandemic, climate change
This was the first interaction between the two leaders after Democrat Biden defeated incumbent president Donald Trump in the US ...| November 18, 2020, Wednesday
VP-elect Kamala Harris delivers first speech on US economy: Full transcript
Harris spoke after meetings with industry leaders and took the stage ahead of Joe Biden| November 17, 2020, Tuesday
Will file more lawsuits proving unconstitutionality of election, says Trump
US President Donald Trump has promised more lawsuits in the near future that will prove the unconstitutionality of the November ...| November 16, 2020, Monday
Nearly 2 dozen arrested in protest over Trump's defeat in US elections
Demonstrations over Trump's loss at the polls have resulted in charges against nearly two dozen people in Washington| November 16, 2020, Monday