Kamala Harris biography, age, ethnicity, views, stepdaughter, husband, career path 2025

Biography of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is an American politician, senator, and the Vice President under the 46th President of the USA, Joe Biden. She made history as the first Black woman to serve as Vice President of the USA.

Childhood and Family

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Madras, British India, and grew up in a civil servant's family before applying to the University of California, Berkeley after college. At 19, she moved to the U.S. for her studies, earning a Ph.D. in endocrinology in 1964. There, Shyamala met Donald Jasper Harris, a Jamaican immigrant and economics graduate student, and they married in 1963.

Kamala was born as the first daughter to the young scientists. She was born on October 20, 1964, and two years later, her sister Maya was born. In the late 1960s, the Harris family moved to Zambia when Donald was offered a government consultancy position. After returning to the U.S., the Harris family settled in a Black neighborhood in Berkeley, in a duplex.

Reflecting their diverse heritage, Kamala and her sister attended both an African American church and a Hindu temple. Kamala initially attended a school for Black children, but as part of the desegregation plan (ironically opposed by Joe Biden early in his political career), she was transferred to a predominantly white school.

When Donald and Shyamala divorced in 1971, the girls stayed with their mother in a house on Bancroft Way until 1976. Kamala and Maya spent the next five years in Montreal, Canada, where their mother accepted a teaching position at McGill University and a research role at the Jewish General Hospital.

Education

After finishing school in Montreal, Kamala returned to the United States. In 1982, she enrolled at Howard University in Washington, graduating in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics. She then entered Hastings College at the University of California, earning her law degree in 1989.

Legal Career

In 1990, Harris joined the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, where she spent eight years honing her legal skills. By early 1998, she'd moved up to become an assistant district attorney for San Francisco.

During her two years in this role, Harris tackled cases involving murder, sexual harassment, and robbery, while clashing with fellow assistant district attorney Darrell Salomon, who wanted to try juveniles in Superior Court rather than Juvenile Courts. Harris successfully blocked Salomon's amendment, but the conflict resulted in her demotion. She later contested it, and Salomon was fired.

In 2000, Harris moved to San Francisco City Hall as an assistant to prosecutor Louise Renne. There, she handled child abuse cases and led the Family and Children's Services Division.

In 2003, Harris won the race for San Francisco District Attorney, defeating better-known and more experienced contenders Bill Fazio and Terence Hallinan. Both opponents clearly lacked Harris's drive, and voters embraced the crime-fighting measures she proposed.

Kamala Harris at the beginning of her career

Harris served two consecutive terms as district attorney, until 2010. She was elected as Attorney General of California in 2010 and was re-elected after her term ended. During her time in office, Harris rolled out major reforms in criminal justice, sentencing, crime prevention, and privacy protection, earning recognition as one of San Francisco's most effective prosecutors in recent memory.

Politics

In 2015, Harris announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from California. With the support of the Democratic Party, President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden, she crushed her main opponent, Democrat Loretta Sanchez, in 2017, capturing over sixty percent of the vote.

As a senator, Harris quickly established herself as a decisive and resilient politician, though she faced criticism for her "prosecutorial" communication style. One of Harris's major achievements was developing and implementing the Housing Act, which allocated roughly $100 billion for repairing and modernizing federal housing while building affordable units for low-income individuals, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Harris also authored and co-authored many reforms in the areas of ecology, education, healthcare, and human rights, including women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

Vice President

After the tragic death of George Floyd in early 2020, racial tensions in the US became a serious issue. Democrats pushed Joe Biden, the frontrunner in the 2020 presidential race, to consider Kamala Harris for the vice president slot—not because of her race, but because of her fierce determination and unwavering belief in a just America.

Thus, in November 2020, after Biden's election victory, Kamala Harris became the first Black woman elected as Vice President of the United States.

In countless interviews, Kamala explains how her mother raised her and her sister to be strong women who would always be seen as Black in their adopted homeland. From a young age, she was determined to become an independent and proud Black woman. As the first Black American of Indian descent to represent California in the US Senate, she grew up believing in America's promises—and ready to fight ensuring those promises reach every citizen, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Views

Harris's political stance is decidedly liberal and progressive, championing social justice, minority rights, and environmental causes.

Champions a healthcare system giving Americans the choice between private and public health insurance.
Strongly supports a woman's right to choose and fights against abortion restrictions.
Backs undocumented immigrants—especially those brought to the U.S. as children—while calling for immigration law compliance.
Champions LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality and transgender protections.
Pushes for federal marijuana legalization.
Backs bail system reform, prison population reduction, and shutting down private prisons.
Champions U.S. international alliances while opposing authoritarian regimes and fighting for global human rights protection.
Backs the "Green New Deal" and aggressive climate action.
Supports "common-sense" gun control measures.

Personal Life of Kamala Harris

Harris grew up celebrating her Indian heritage while proudly embracing her African-American identity. She often accompanied her mother on trips to India and visited her father's homeland, staying close to her extended Jamaican family. Kamala's mother passed away from cancer in 2009, and her father threw himself into reform projects promoting economic growth and social justice after retirement.

Kamala Harris with her husband Douglas Emhoff

In the early '90s, Harris had a relationship with Willie Brown, a politician who was the Speaker of the California Assembly at the time. In 2001, Kamala briefly dated TV host and actor Montel Williams. There is no reliable information about other pre-marital relationships of Harris.

Harris married successful attorney Doug Emhoff in summer 2014. After meeting on a blind date, they dated about six months before tying the knot. Both were 49 when they met, and Kamala says she was instantly charmed by his warm, open personality. Kamala has no children of her own, but she has warm familial relationships with her husband's adult children, Cole and Ella.

Kamala Harris Now

On July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden announced he wouldn't seek re-election and endorsed Kamala Harris as his successor.

Harris responded to his endorsement:

On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. I am honored to have the President's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.

In the first day of the campaign, Harris's team raised $81 million in donations and secured the votes of 2,538 delegates (with a minimum of 1,976 needed).