Kamala Harris: An Historic Campaign
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- From San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general, U.S. senator, and now the first Black and Asian woman to be nominated for president, Kamala Harris has a history of breaking barriers.
Kamala Harris was born in 1964 at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland to immigrant parents Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan.
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Donald immigrated from Jamaica and Shyamala from India. The two met at the University of California Berkeley protesting during the Civil Rights Movement.
Harris' only sibling, Maya, was born three years after she was. Their parents separated a couple of years after Maya's birth.
Maya Harris is also an attorney and would go on to have a major influence on Kamala's life and political career.
Long before entering politics, Harris' early childhood in Berkeley gave her an opportunity to be an agent of change when she was bussed across town to be part of the second class to integrate her public school, Thousand Oaks Elementary School.
Harris would spend her early childhood on the border of Berkeley and Oakland. In middle school, when Kamala was 12, her mother moved the family to Montreal, Canada, as she accepted a teaching position at a university.
VIDEO: Harris concedes presidential election but not 'the fight that fueled this campaign' | FULL SPEECH
She would finish middle and high school in Montreal visiting the Bay Area for summer breaks and holidays.
In the early '80s, Harris moved back to the States and took her first lap around Washington, D.C., studying economics and political science at Howard University.
Howard is often referred to as "The Mecca," signifying its place as one of the most illustrious Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the country.
At Howard, Harris would run for office for the first time as freshmen class representative and pledge the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority.
She graduated in 1986 from the College of Arts & Sciences. Harris then returned to San Francisco to attend law school at the University of California Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).
By the 1990s, Harris become a deputy district attorney for Alameda County, working for the people in her hometown.
Harris first ran for public office as San Francisco District Attorney in 2002, defeating her former boss to become the first Black woman to serve as district attorney in California. Harris is biracial, identifying as both Black and Indian.
Her work in the Bay Area inspired future leaders, including current San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
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"She's been a mentor, but she's more like a mother," says San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "I think the name 'Momala' is so perfect for her because she provides you with advice and support, but she also tries to find out what is going on with you and are you taking care of yourself."'
During her time as San Francisco district attorney, Harris focused on criminal justice reform by being "smart on crime." She worked to reduce recidivism by offering job training and education to first-time, non-violent offenders.
She would take a controversial stance by declining to seek the death penalty for the man convicted of killing San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza.
Harris' next stop on her road to the White House would be at the California State Capitol as the first Black person, first woman and first Asian American to serve as California attorney general from 2011 to 2017.
During her time as attorney general, she led efforts to hold banks accountable for the housing foreclosure crisis, winning $20 billion in a settlement for homeowners in California.
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From there, she filled the Senate seat long held by Barbara Boxer and became the second Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
Harris would gain national attention during her tenure in the Senate for grilling members of Donald Trump's cabinet, like Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
After just a couple of years in the Senate, Harris would announce her first run for President of the United Stated on "Good Morning America."
Harris had a strong run in the early laps of the most crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in history, but she soon ran out of money and ended her bid before the Iowa Caucuses.
Joe Biden would go on to win the presidential nomination for Democrats, and Biden would tap Harris to be his running mate.
With her groundbreaking vice-presidential win, Harris is inspiring another generation, especially young people from Oakland, where she was born.
"It's really an inspiration knowing that she was born in Oakland, and like she was around the same streets," explains 14-year-old Anevay Cruz. "It's really inspiring for the community."
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"She's representing, you know, all the young Black and Indian girls," says Harris' former campaign manager Debbie Mesloh. "She's representing so many women that look at her on that debate stage and say, 'Wow, there she is.'"
On Jan. 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States, making history as the first woman, Black, and Southeast Asian American to hold the position -- with her husband, Doug Emhoff, by her side as the first Second Gentleman.
Her inauguration came just two weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection, a stark reminder of the polarized state of American politics.
As vice president, Harris was tasked with addressing critical issues, including immigration reform, specifically working to address the root causes of migration from Central America.
In a landmark decision during her tenure, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, dismantling nearly 50 years of abortion rights. Harris vocally opposed the ruling and emphasized her commitment to reproductive rights.
Throughout her term, Harris also played a crucial role in passing key legislation, casting tie-breaking Senate votes on major initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at reducing prescription drug costs. However, as the vice president, much of the credit for these achievements went to President Biden.
As the 2024 presidential race heated up, President Biden faced increasing pressure within his own party to step aside, amid growing concerns about his age and capacity to lead for another four years.
On a Sunday morning in July, Biden made the historic decision to withdraw from the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket. The announcement was met with swift support from Democratic leaders, who unified around Harris.
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With Harris now at the top of the ticket, the stage was set for a high-stakes showdown with former President Donald Trump, who was running for a third time.
Despite heightened excitement surrounding Harris' candidacy during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, she could not overcome some voters' concerns about how her presidency would differ from her predecessor's.
Harris would go on to lose both the popular vote and the electoral college. She delivered her concession speech from her alma mater of Howard University.
"While I conceded this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. The fight for freedom, opportunity, fairness, and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation -- the ideals that reflect America at its best. That is a fight I will never give up," she said.
While I conceded this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.Kamala Harris
"May that work guide us even in the face of setbacks toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America. I thank you all. May God bless you. And may God Bless the United States of America," she continued.
Throughout her first presidential run, her selection as vice president, her tenure as vice president, and throughout her second run for president, ABC7 spoke with those who surrounded Harris throughout her journey to answer the question: Who is Kamala Harris?
"Kamala Harris: An Historic Campaign," a new ABC7 documentary, details Harris' journey from her childhood in the Bay Area to her formative years at Howard University and then her rise to political prominence in San Francisco, the state of California, the U.S. Senate, the Vice Presidency, and her journey as the first woman of color to top a major party ticket.
Childhood friends, colleagues, mentors and young people she's inspired discuss Harris' rise to the vice presidency and her impact for generations to come.
You can watch "Kamala Harris: An Historic Campaign" in the player above or through your favorite streaming service.
Kamala Harris timeline of events
- 1964: Kamala Devi Harris born at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, Calif. to Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris
- 1967: Sister Maya is born
- 1970: Attends Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, Calif. as part of the second class to integrate her public school
- 1971: Parents divorce
- 1976: Harris, Maya and her mother move to Montreal, Canada
- 1982: Attends Howard University in Washington, D.C.
- 1986: Graduates Howard University with a degree in political science and economics
- 1989: Earns law degree from UC California Law in San Francisco
- 1990-1998: Serves as deputy district attorney for Alameda County
- 2004-2010: First female district attorney in San Francisco's history, and the first African American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office
- 2011-2017: First African American and first woman to serve as California's Attorney General
- 2014: Married Douglas Emhoff
- 2016: Elected to U.S. Senate as the first Indian American woman and second Black woman to serve as a senator
- Jan. 2019: Announces bid for the presidency
- Dec. 2019: Drops out of the presidential race
- Aug. 2020: Joe Biden announces Harris as his running mate
- Jan. 20, 2021: Kamala Harris sworn in as the first female vice-president, and first woman of color to hold the role.
- July 21, 2024, Joe Biden, the incumbent president of the United States, announced his withdrawal from the 2024 United States presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.
- Aug. 23, 2024 Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for President.
- Nov. 6, 2024 Kamala Harris concedes the presidential race to President-Elect Donald Trump.
