Photos show Kamala Harris' political career, from serving as a California district attorney to presidential nominee
- Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential candidate for the upcoming 2024 election on Tuesday.
- Harris has a history as a district attorney, attorney general, and US senator.
- Harris has broken new ground with multiple roles in politics.
Election Day is on Tuesday, a moment that Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been gearing up for since her nomination this summer.
However, long before she served as vice president in President Joe Biden's administration, Harris had a political career as the district attorney of San Francisco and later as the attorney general of California.
In 2017, Harris was elected to the US Senate and three years later, announced she was running for president. After an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2020, Harris was selected as Biden's pick for vice president.
When Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race on July 21, Harris became the presumed nominee. At the Democratic National Convention in August, Harris became the first woman of color in US history to become a major-party presidential nominee.
Her campaign also raised $81 million in its first 24 hours, breaking the record for the biggest single-day fundraising for any presidential candidate in US history.
Here's a look at Kamala Harris' political career, in photos.
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California.
Her parents — scientist Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who was an Indian immigrant, and Jamaican-American economist Donald J. Harris — met while studying at The University of California, Berkeley.
Kamala's sister, Maya, was born in 1967. Their parents divorced in 1972 and Harris was primarily raised by her mother.
Harris, who identifies as both Black and South Asian American, is the first person from either background to be elected vice president.
She then earned her law degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, in 1989.
Harris returned to her birthplace of Oakland to serve as deputy district attorney for Alameda County.
Her work included prosecuting cases of murder, rape, assault, and drug offenses, helping to establish her reputation in California politics.
Harris served two terms during that time and was the first woman to be elected San Francisco district attorney.
She was also the first woman of Black and South-Asian descent to hold the office, CBS reported.
Harris was sworn into office in 2011, serving as California's top prosecutor for six years.
CBS reported that, as attorney general, she enacted a groundbreaking mortgage debt relief package for homeowners affected by bad foreclosure practices. She also worked on criminal justice reform, including requiring California police officers to wear body cameras, and supported various climate action efforts.
However, some of her decisions while working as a prosecutor have received criticism from progressives.
Prior to 2018, she opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, and convictions for drug sellers rose from 56% in 2003 to 74% in 2008 in her district, Harris wrote in her 2009 book "Smart on Crime," NBC News reported.
She's also been criticized for upholding the death penalty and objecting to the release of lower-level offenders.
"I've been consistent my whole career," Harris said when asked at a January 2019 rally about her "tough-on-crime mentality" while working as a prosecutor.
"My career has been based on an understanding, one, that as a prosecutor, my duty was to seek and make sure that the most vulnerable and voiceless among us are protected, and that is why I have personally prosecuted violent crime that includes rape, child molestation, and homicide," she said. "And I have also worked my whole career to reform the criminal justice system, understanding, to your point, that it is deeply flawed," she continued.
As San Francisco district attorney, she backed a city policy that turned over young immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they were arrested or charged with a felony.
In a statement to CNN, a Harris campaign spokesperson said that the policy "could have been applied more fairly."
Harris left the position in 2017 after she was elected to the Senate.
Harris launched her presidential campaign in January 2019, but she withdrew in December 2019 to support Biden's candidacy.
Biden secured the nomination and selected Harris as his running mate.
Harris took the oath of office alongside her husband, Doug Emhoff. The pair met on a blind date, which Emhoff has called "love at first sight," and were married on August 22, 2014.
At the Celebration of America after the inauguration, Harris gave a speech about "American Aspiration" and various historical figures who embodied that tenacity.
"This is what President Joe Biden has called upon us to summon now. The courage to see beyond crisis. To do what is hard. To do what is good. To unite. To believe in ourselves. Believe in our country. Believe in what we can do, together," she said.
As vice president, Harris has cast more tie-breaking votes in the Senate than any previous vice president.
Harris' tie-breaking votes helped pass major legislation, including the 2021 American Rescue Plan for COVID-19 recovery and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to boost clean energy.
A vocal supporter of abortion rights, Harris became the first sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion provider when she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota in March, CNN reported.
However, she has also been criticized for her perceived lack of success in securing the border and for comments she made about immigration.
In June 2021, Harris sat down with Lester Holt and said she hadn't visited the US-Mexico border yet as vice president. She said she had not yet visited the border because she was in charge of handling the "root causes" of Central American migrants coming to the US, and that she "hadn't been to Europe," either.
During her first trip abroad as vice president, Harris also told Guatemalan migrants not to come to the US.
"I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come," Harris said.
The announcement was made after sitting President Joe Biden said he would be ending his campaign for reelection against former President Donald Trump.
After dropping out of the race, Biden put his support behind Harris as the new nominee.
A descendant of rural America and the Midwest, Walz was seen as providing balance to the Democratic ticket, which historically tends to be more favorable in coastal regions and major cities.
"Tim is a relentless advocate for working families and a battle-tested leader who has cut taxes for working families, protected fundamental rights, and passed paid family and medical leave," Harris told supporters during a fundraising appeal in August.
From the Obamas to Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Cardi B, Harris has received support from many high-profile celebrities and political icons.
Beyoncé has even hit the campaign trail to rally support for Harris.
Speaking at a rally in her hometown of Houston, the Grammy-winning artist said, "I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in."
"It's time to sing a new song, a song that began 248 years ago," she continued. "The old notes of downfall, discord, despair no longer resonate."
If Harris is elected president on (or after) Election Day, She would make history as the first female president of the United States, the first woman of color in the role, and only the second person of color, after President Barack Obama, to hold the highest office.