Kamala Devi Harris (/ˈkɑːmələ ˈdeɪvi/ ⓘ KAH-mə-lə DAY-vee;[2] born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female vice president, making her the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021, and earlier as the attorney general of California. Harris is the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. She began her law career in the office of the district attorney (DA) of Alameda County, before being recruited to the San Francisco DA's Office and later the city attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2003, she was elected DA of San Francisco. She was elected attorney general of California in 2010 and reelected in 2014. Harris served as the junior U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. She defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second Black woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the U.S. Senate.
As a senator, Harris advocated for stricter gun control laws, the DREAM Act, federal legalization of cannabis, and healthcare and taxation reforms. She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.
Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in 2019,but withdrew from the race before the primaries. Biden selected her as his running mate, and their ticket defeated the incumbent president and vice president, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, in the 2020 election. Harris and Biden were inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Presiding over an evenly split Senate upon entering office, Harris played a crucial role as president of the Senate with her power to cast tie-breaking votes, helping pass bills such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus package and the Inflation Reduction Act. After Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, Harris launched her own presidential campaign with Biden's endorsement. She chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
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