Who is Sen. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s running mate?

Former attorney has turned heads during her time in Washington

After months of deliberation and speculation, former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has selected California Sen. Kamala Harris to be the vice presidential candidate on his ticket for November’s general election.

Harris, 55, currently the only Black woman in the Senate, is the first Black woman to be chosen as a vice presidential candidate.

Harris has only been a U.S. Senator for two years, but her brief time in Washington has been enough to gain her some notoriety.

She initially was one of the Democratic candidates for president in the primary before officially dropping out in December.

Harris has spent the past two years questioning the likes of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during hearings, and she started to become popular among donors within the Democratic party, according to an article on thehill.com.

Before becoming the second Black woman ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate, Harris was California’s attorney general from 2011-17 and San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004-11.

*This story was first published in 2019, but has been updated to reflect the news of Harris being named Biden’s running mate.


About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.