Kamala (comma-la) Harris was born October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. She will be 60 years old as of October 20, 2024. Kamala’s mother, Shymala Gopalan immigrated from India when she was 19 years old and became a breast cancer scientist. Kamala has quoted her mother in speeches many times. Her father, Donald J Harris immigrated from Jamaica.

Kamala and her younger sister, Maya, grew up in the middle class. Her parents were very involved in the Civil Rights Movement and brought her to civil rights marches. Harris soon pursued her education at historically black college Howard University. She studied political science and economics at Howard University, graduated, and then earned a law degree from the University of California College of the Law (Hastings College). 

Kamala Harris is the first-ever Black, South Asian-American and woman to become Vice President of the United States. Harris would be the first-ever woman to be president of the United States if she wins the election.

In 1990, Harris became a prosecutor, specializing in child sexual abuse and assault cases. She then became district attorney in 2004 and fought against gun violence and domestic violence issues. She became a leader for the LBTQ+ rights movement as well and increased the conviction rate for rapists and murderers. She created programs for non-violent offenders to help them not commit crimes again, and to help them achieve better lives. 

She then became the first Black and woman attorney general and chief law enforcement officer of California in 2010. She “cracked down” on transnational traffickers taking drugs and migrants across the border. She won $20 billion for Americans during the Great Recession at risk of losing their homes by foreclosure. She won a $1.1 billion settlement for any students and veterans who got scammed by for-profit colleges. She also made corporate polluters pay over $1 billion to clean any illegally contaminated communities, and made Big Pharma pay over $230 million for their “deceptive and dangerous practices.” 

When she was sworn into the United State Senate in 2017, she fought to raise wages, bring the cost of health care, child care, housing and college down for families. She also fought to improve maternal health care and end hunger. She created a program intended to invest billions of dollars for small businesses and entrepreneurs in “underserved communities” to expand access to capital. She “led the push” for legislation to invest in clean water, lead pipes, and drought and wildfire resilience. She also worked for the Senate Select Committee on intelligence. 

Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President along with her running mate President Joe Biden. As Vice President from 2021-2024, Harris has fought to bring down the cost of health care, voted to lower drug prices and cap insulin prices for seniors and oversees the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. She has fought for the right of a woman to make a decision about her body, the freedom to vote and the freedom to access both clean water and clean air. Harris and Biden formed a bipartisan coalition, which provided a $1 trillion investment to remove all lead pipes in the United States. Kamala has co-written the books Smart on Crime (2009), The Truths We Hold (2019), and Superheroes are Everywhere (2019).

Harris is the democratic party presidential candidate this year against republican nominee Donald Trump. As president, she has promised to be a “president for all Americans,” a president who “unites us around our highest aspirations,” and one who “always fights for the American people.” All information was sourced from The White House and the Kamala Harris Website.