Senator Kamala Harris emphasizing her East Bay roots as she runs for president

ByLeslie Brinkley KGO logo
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Senator Kamala Harris emphasizes her East Bay roots as she runs for president
Senator and Oakland-native Kamala Harris will launch her official campaign for a 2020 presidential run next weekend at Oakland City Hall.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Senator and Oakland-native Kamala Harris will launch her official campaign for a 2020 presidential run next weekend at Oakland City Hall.

Harris was born in Oakland on October 20, 1964.

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On "Good Morning America" on Monday morning, she announced her intention to run for president with the campaign theme of "for the people." She shared a photo with her mother and sister on the streets of Berkeley when she was a young girl. Her Indian mother and her Jamaican father were both graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, where they were active in the civil rights movement in the 1960's. When they divorced, Harris moved with her mom to Montreal and then went on to Howard University where she spoke Monday about her candidacy, saying, "It is my full intention to travel this country and sit in living rooms and listen to families and let them express their concerns and their needs."

She ended up at U.C. Hastings Law school and worked at the San Francisco District Attorney's office in the 1990's. For a time, she dated then California speaker of the assembly Willie Brown. Today the former San Francisco mayor said, "I always thought Kamala Harris could be anything she desired, that's how talented she is."

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She was elected DA of San Francisco in 2003, California Attorney General in 2010 and in 2016 ascended to the national stage as a California senator, branding herself as a leader in challenging the Trump administration.

San Francisco Republican leaders said Harris might do well in the liberal Bay Area, but believe she will not "play well" in America's heartland. If elected, Harris could potentially be the first woman president and the first woman of color to become president of the United States.

Take a look at more stories and videos on Senator Kamala Harris.