It’s official, Sen. Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s VP pick for the 2020 presidential election.
Harris, who has been the presumptive frontrunner for the position, was announced as Biden’s pick on Tuesday afternoon in both text and email form to supporters. This was followed up through a thread of tweets.
Harris’ addition to the Biden ticket makes her the third woman to ever be considered VP for a major political party– she follows in the footsteps of the former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008 for Republican Sen. John McCain and former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 for Democratic Party nominee Walter Mondale.
Harris, of Jamaican and Indian descent, is the first woman of color to be considered for the role of VP.
The senator for California started her political career as Alameda County district attorney in 1990. She followed to become assistant DA to Terence Hallinan, former DA of San Francisco, in 1998, taking his spot in 2004. She became the state’s attorney general in 2010 and the second Black woman to hold a spot in the senate in 2016, after former Sen. Barbara Boxer announced she would not seek re-election.
The former prosecutor became a household name in late 2018 after grilling Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a series of hearings surrounding his alleged sexual assault on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Harris, who was already suspected of preparing for a presidential bid, eventually announced her running for president on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of last year.
I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020
Harris organized a powerhouse campaign from the start, immediately gaining recognition for her decisive demeanor, especially toward former Vice President Biden. In the first Democratic Party debate in Miami last June, the Oakland-raised senator became a viral sensation for calling out Biden in working with segregationist senators that promoted anti-busing legislation.
However, the once highly-favored presidential candidate lost steam since then, and was met with criticism toward her record and stances on issues such as the death penalty and marijuana.
Harris dropped out of the race in early December of 2019, citing a lack of sufficient funding to continue her run. Members of her campaign also noted a lack of direction as well.
Harris endorsed Biden in March of 2020 following his landslide victory of Super Tuesday delegates against Sen. Bernie Sanders. She took to Twitter to back the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party.
“I believe in Joe,” Harris said on Twitter. “I really believe in him, and I have known him for a long time. One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really does care about the people, and who can therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that.”
