By Allyn Tucker
Boston University News Service
After President Joe Biden announced the end of his 2024 presidential campaign on July 21, he followed his statement with the endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. After her initial nomination, Harris became the first woman, African American person and South Asian person to serve as Vice President of the United States.
The endorsement of Harris does not come as a surprise after the years the two politicians spent as a partnership, but voters who have not kept up with the unrest of the Democratic Party will be revisiting the qualifications and experience of Harris. Now, four years after Biden initially announced his running mate, here is some history supporting why Biden chose to endorse Harris to run for 47th President of the United States.
Harris graduated from the University of California-San Francisco’s (former) Hastings College of Law in 1989. At the start of her career, Harris was part of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, and in 2003, she became the district attorney in San Francisco. Following her work as district attorney, she began her six year stint as California’s 32nd Attorney General in 2011. Harris was the first woman, African American person and South Asian American to serve as Attorney General in California, which is the most populated state in the nation.
In 2016, Harris was elected to represent California in the United States Senate, becoming the second Black woman and first South Asian woman to hold the role. Although she was largely in the minority party during her tenure in the Senate, she used her voice to make her stances clear.
Harris was largely outspoken in support of the DREAM Act, which provided a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the nation as children, as well as other social justice issues. She was also a major proponent in pushing forward laws which made lynching a federal crime and which supported police reform.
As a former prosecutor, Harris also used her experience to voice her questions during the hearings of Supreme Court nominee, and now justice, Brett Kavanaugh. She was known by her colleagues in the Senate as an active member of the committees she served, including Intelligence and Judiciary and Homeland Security.
During her time as Vice President of the United States, Harris continued to make her voice heard both in the White House and in the Senate as the tie-breaking vote. Her Senatorial votes ensured the passing of many important issues, including relief during the COVID-19 pandemic and the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Harris also loudly supported the fight for reproductive freedom, launching a nationwide tour promoting a woman’s right to choose and fighting back on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
After serving as Vice President for three and a half years, Harris is now the endorsee of President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential race against the Republican Party’s nominee, former President Donald Trump.
