Kamala Harris leads list of contenders for spots on Democratic ticket
Washington: US President Joe Biden’s decision to step down as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president opens the door for other contenders to become the Democratic nominee in November. The president has thrown his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, and other prominent Democrats moved quickly to rally around her candidacy, but it’s unclear just how smooth her path to the party’s nomination is. Here are some of the leading contenders for a spot on the Democratic ticket:
KAMALA HARRIS
Born in Oakland, California, Vice President Kamala Harris calls Thurgood Marshall an inspiration and talks often about growing up with parents deeply involved in the civil rights movement.
Her economist father and cancer specialist mother met as graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, where Harris recalled they spent ample time “marching and shouting about this thing called justice.” In choosing Harris as his running mate in 2020, Biden called her a “fearless fighter for the little guy.” She has not wavered as his vice-presidential nominee and has become more visible campaigning for the Biden-Harris ticket in recent weeks.
Harris, who is Black and also of South Asian descent, is the nation’s first female vice president and the first person of color to hold that office. A graduate of Howard University, she also is the first person from a historically Black college or university to hold the office of either president or vice president.
Harris won her seat in the U.S. Senate in 2016 after twice being elected California attorney general. As a Senate candidate, she stressed her fights with big banks during the mortgage crisis, for-profit colleges that were financially exploiting students and environmental wrongdoers. She’s talked for years about recidivism and criminal justice reform, and pushed for a different approach to non-violent crimes that emphasizes rehabilitation instead of severe, one-size-fits-all punishment. She calls it smart on crime.
As vice president, Harris has been asked by Biden to take on some of the most challenging tasks his administration has faced, including securing the nation’s borders.
As the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, she has cast a record number of tie-breaking votes on legislation promoted by Democrats, who are defending a razor-thin majority in both houses of Congress in this year’s elections.
Harris, 59, is married to Los Angeles lawyer Douglas Emhoff. Kamala Harris has said she plans to “earn and win” the Democratic presidential nomination to defeat Donald Trump. “I am honoured to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said in a statement on Sunday.
Despite Biden’s backing, it remains unclear whether Harris will become the nominee, or what process the Democratic Party would take to select an alternative.
