With the US presidential election 2020 looming ever closer, a surge of Democratic candidates have thrown their hats into the ring over the past month for the Democratic primaries. While there are a number of candidates in the running, one particular candidate is already gaining quite a lot media attention and that is Kamala Harris. The Californian Senator has only been in office for two years but has already left her mark on Washington and appears to be a viable candidate for the Blue party.
Born in Oakland, California to two immigrant parents, Harris has always had a passion for the law. She went to Howard University for her undergraduate in Political Science and Economics, afterwards gaining her law degree from the University of California. Upon graudation, Harris served as Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California.
Harris continued to make heights in her career as she became the District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 – 2011 and later progressing on to become Attorney General from 2011 – 2017. Harris took a strong stance on criminal justice reform during her tenure as Attorney General. However, her policies on justice reform, during her time as Californian Attorney General, have been criticised as contradictory on occasion.
A woman who has trailblazed for diversity in her career, she was the first person of African and South Asian descent to become the Attorney General of California. in 2016, Harris became the first black senator from California and the second black female senator in US history.
During her short career in the US Senate, Harris has already made her mark on US politics. She is on four different Senate committees: Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Select Committee on Intelligence; Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Budget. Harris has been one of the strongest opponents of the Trump administration- she has voted against more of the administration’s nominees than most Democratic senators. She has also been a staunch critic of President Trump, calling the wall to reduce illegal immigration in America “a vanity project” and the month-long government shutdown a “crisis in leadership”.
Immigration, better funding for public schools and Medicare for all are some of the core issues for the Californian Senator. She also calls herself a champion of middle class families and has publicly denounced police brutality against African Americans.
With a number of Democrats putting themselves forward for the presidential nomination in 2020, Kamala Harris is showing favourable ratings in the race to become the next president of the United States of America.
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Image courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili via Flickr