What to know about Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden as his successor

BY: SHAUNEEN MIRANDA – Ohio Capital Journal

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic presidential nominee, passing the torch to the California native who has helmed administration initiatives on reproductive rights and gun violence prevention.

A former U.S. senator from California who vied for her party’s presidential nomination in the 2020 primaries, Harris, 59, would represent a new generation at the top of the ticket after Biden, 81, withdrew from the race under pressure from Democratic leaders following a disastrous late June debate performance.

Harris, the nation’s first woman vice president, now has a chance to become the first woman president, depending on what Democrats decide. She is also the first Black vice president and first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Some in the party publicly floated her as a potential replacement for Biden following the debate. Biden initially refused to end his reelection bid despite a growing number of calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside. He bowed out on Sunday.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a Sunday post on X.

Policy initiatives

During her time as vice president, Harris became a leading voice in the administration’s fight for reproductive rights and abortion access — often seen as Democrats’ strongest issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which ended nearly half a century of the federal constitutional right to abortion.

Harris launched a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in early 2024, bringing her to several swing states. And after touring a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, Harris was believed to be the first sitting president or vice president to tour an abortion clinic.

Harris has also focused on gun safety throughout her vice presidential tenure. She announced the launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center in March to assist states, local governments and others in “optimizing the usage of red flag laws,” according to the White House.

She also called on states to pass so-called red flag laws — which enable law enforcement to petition civil courts to take away firearms from those who could pose a danger to themselves or others — and use Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funding to “to help implement laws already enacted.”

The administration championed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Biden signed into law in June 2022. The measure was regarded as the most comprehensive federal gun safety legislation in almost 30 years.

She’s also been a sharp opponent, alongside Biden and other Democrats, of Project 2025 — the nearly 900-page document from the Heritage Foundation that proposes a sweeping conservative agenda if former President Donald J. Trump is elected. Though Trump has distanced himself from the platform, some former members of his administration helped write it.

Harris has also drawn criticism on both sides of the aisle for her efforts surrounding immigration. Biden tapped her in 2021 to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America.

She visited the U.S.-Mexico border in June 2021 after making stops in Guatemala and Mexico earlier that month, the first international trip for her as vice president.

Republicans have repeatedly called her a “border czar” despite her focus being on migration’s “root causes” in Central American countries.

During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was one of several speakers who dubbed her a “border czar,” adding the barb that “appointing Kamala Harris to oversee the border is like appointing Bernie Madoff to oversee your retirement plan.”

Harris also holds the record for the highest number of tie-breaking votes cast in the U.S. Senate.

Public polling and perception

Since the fallout from the June 27 debate, a slew of polls have offered mixed outcomes as to whether voters would choose Harris over Trump if the two were up against each other.

An Economist/YouGov poll conducted July 13-16 shows both Harris and Biden narrowly behind Trump, with Biden performing slightly better than Harris.

Only 39% said they would choose Harris, compared to 44% who would vote for Trump. Similarly, 41% said they would vote for Biden, compared to 43% choosing Trump.

As of mid-July, her approval ratings also appeared dim, with 50.4% of Americans disapproving of her and 38.6% approving.

California background

Prior to serving as vice president, Harris was a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. With a long career in law enforcement, she served as the attorney general of California and was also the district attorney of San Francisco.

Harris vied for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election before ultimately withdrawing her candidacy months later and subsequently endorsing Biden. She dropped out prior to the Iowa caucuses, ending her bid in December 2019, despite being initially viewed as a top Democratic contender.

She was born in Oakland, California, in 1964 to immigrant parents. She is married to Doug Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse of either a U.S. president or vice president, according to the White House. He’s also the first second gentleman in U.S. history.

Harris is an alumna of Howard University, a historically Black institution, and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings.