The race of a lifetime
Around 1.3 million Indian-americans are expected to vote in this year's election, with nearly 200,000 in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan, according to research firm CRW Strategy. In the 2016 presidential election, 77% of Indian-americans voted for Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. US President Donald Trump has been seeking to win over Indian voters
Harris was born to two immigrant parents: an Indian mother and a Black father. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist, moved from Chennai. Her father, Donald Harris, was from Jamaica and moved to the US to study economics. Harris was born in Oakland and grew up in Berkeley
Harris attended college in the US, spending four years at Howard
University, which she has described as among the most formative experiences. After Howard, she went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings, and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office
She became the top prosecutor for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010, the top lawyer in America’s most populous state
In her nearly two terms in office as attorney general, Harris gained a reputation as one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party
The 55-year-old California senator has become just the third woman to be selected as the vice president on a major party ticket. A win will make Harris the first female vice president of the United States and set her up the presidency in 2024. Most vice presidents have gone on to run for the top job
Since being elected to the US Senate in 2016, Kamala has introduced and co-sponsored legislation to help the middle class, increase the minimum wage to $15, reform cash bail, and defend the legal rights of refugees and immigrants. She was the first Black and Indian-american woman to represent California in the US Senate
Harris serves on the senate select committee on intelligence that deals with sensitive national security and international threats. She also serves on the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee, where she oversees the government’s response to emergencies, including Covid-19
A critique-turned ally of her former rival Biden, Harris had her own presidential aspirations, which she suspended by the end of 2019, saying she lacked the financial resources to continue her campaign. She is one of only three Asian Americans in the Senate and she’s the first Indian-american ever to serve in the chamber