Wikipedia (en)
Kamala Devi Harris ( KAH-mə-lə; born October 20, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017, and the Democratic presumptive vice presidential nominee for the 2020 election. A member of the Democratic Party, Harris is the second African American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate. Harris is the first African American and South Asian American woman to be chosen as the running mate of a major party's presidential candidate; Joe Biden selected her for the position as part of his 2020 presidential campaign.Born in Oakland, California, Harris is a graduate of Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Harris began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2003, she was elected the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco, serving until 2011.
Harris was narrowly elected Attorney General of California in 2010, and was re-elected in 2014. Harris faced criticism from reformers for tough-on-crime policies she pursued while she was California's attorney general. In November 2016, she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to succeed outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer, becoming California's third female U.S. Senator. As a senator, she has supported healthcare reform, federal descheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform. She gained a national profile after her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including U.S. Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr, and Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.Harris ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election, briefly becoming one of the highest-profile candidates before ending her campaign on December 3, 2019, citing lack of funds to continue. Harris was selected as Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate for the 2020 election. She is the first black woman and the first individual from Indian descent to be on a major party ticket.
