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Vice President Kamala Harris captured Americans’ focus in an instant Sunday when President Joe Biden bowed out of the presidential race and endorsed Ms. Harris as the Democratic nominee instead. 

Within 36 hours, Ms. Harris had solidified her front-runner status for the Democratic nomination. Though Ms. Harris has been an elected official for years, her policies and personal history are less well known than prior presumptive presidential nominees at this point in the election cycle. 

Why We Wrote This

Kamala Harris is a household name as vice president, but she’ll be reintroducing herself to voters as she moves toward the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Here are some key facts from her career and personal life.

This close to a presidential election, the candidate leading a major-party ticket would have already faced months of scrutiny. After decades in public service, Ms. Harris is vetted, but she’s not necessarily familiar to all voters. Several polls over the past year show her unfavorability rating among voters hovering just over 50%.  

A brief picture of Ms. Harris, from her legislative record to her appeal to Generation Z, shows some of her political strengths and weaknesses and the personal beliefs that have shaped her career. Largely raised by a single mother in California, the vice president was part of a school busing effort to integrate public schools as a child, worked as a prosecutor, and is known as a “foodie” who regularly cooks Sunday family dinners. 

Vice President Kamala Harris captured Americans’ focus in an instant Sunday when President Joe Biden bowed out of the presidential race and endorsed Ms. Harris as the Democratic nominee instead. 

Within 36 hours, Ms. Harris had solidified her front-runner status for the Democratic nomination. Though Ms. Harris has been an elected official for years, her policies and personal history are less well known than prior presumptive presidential nominees at this point in the election cycle. 

This close to a presidential election, the candidate leading a major-party ticket would have already faced months of scrutiny. After decades in public service, Ms. Harris is vetted, but she’s not necessarily familiar to all voters. Several polls over the past year show her unfavorability rating among voters hovering just over 50%. Here’s a brief picture of Ms. Harris, from her legislative record to her appeal to Generation Z.

Why We Wrote This

Kamala Harris is a household name as vice president, but she’ll be reintroducing herself to voters as she moves toward the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Here are some key facts from her career and personal life.

She integrated public schools 

Born in Oakland, California, Ms. Harris grew up surrounded by social justice movements. Her mother and father – who emigrated from India and Jamaica, respectively – were civil rights activists who met at the University of California, Berkeley. They later divorced, and Ms. Harris and her sister were raised primarily by their mother, a breast cancer researcher who died in 2009. The sisters had long rides to school as part of a busing effort to integrate public schools in Berkeley during the 1970s. 

“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me,” Ms. Harris said on the debate stage during the 2020 presidential primary. 

After high school, Ms. Harris attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. Today, she’s often spotted in attire bearing the name of her alma mater. On July 21, the day Mr. Biden endorsed Ms. Harris, she was said to have spent the day taking calls, surrounded by family and aides, and wearing a Howard University sweatshirt.

Kamala Harris receives the oath of office during her inauguration as San Francisco district attorney, in San Francisco, Jan. 8, 2004. In the center is Ms. Harris' mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan.

She was a prosecutor first

After returning to California for law school, Ms. Harris spent three years as a prosecutor in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, a credential that would later prove a mark against her among progressives in the party. Ms. Harris’ view of the role of a prosecutor was nuanced.

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