Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Harris is the first Indian American and African American to represent California in the United States Senate.
Born in Oakland, California, Harris is a graduate of Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Harris began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2004, she was elected the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco, serving until 2011.
Harris was elected Attorney General of California in 2010, and was re-elected in 2014 with an increased margin. On November 8, 2016, she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to succeed outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer, becoming California's third female U.S. Senator. As a senator, she has supported single-payer healthcare, federal descheduling of cannabis, a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform. She gained a national profile after her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including U.S. Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr, and Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
She ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election, briefly becoming a frontrunner before ending her campaign on December 3, 2019. She is seen as a possible contender to be chosen by Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.
“Joe speaks the words and actually knows how to say the words "Black Lives Matter." Contrary to what the president of the United States, the current president of the United States, does which is to sow hate and division full time, has never spoken those words and will never speak the words "Black Lives Matter.”
“It is also a waste of taxpayer money. The California Legislative Analyst’s office estimates that California would save $150 million a year if it replaced the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. That's money that could go into schools, health care, or restorative justice programs. It is not a smart way to keep people safe.”
“I believe if evidence proves one human being murdered another human being, there should be swift and severe punishment. But the death penalty in America has been imposed as a final punishment to many who were later found to be innocent. Between 1973 and 2016, for every ten people executed, more than one person has been exonerated. Killing one innocent person would be too many. It's time to turn the page on this chapter and end a deeply flawed system of capital punishment in California.”
““We have to get smart and understand the vast majority of these undocumented immigrants are following the law, working hard, raising their children, paying taxes – and we have to provide a pathway for them.”
