Joe Biden has chosen Sen. Kamala Harris from California as his running mate, ending weeks of speculation over his biggest decision to date as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
If elected, Harris, 55, will be the first Black woman and first Asian American vice president, NBC News reported.
Biden will be the oldest president-elect in U.S. history. Picking Harris brings some “generational diversity” to the ticket, Deepa Shivaram reported for NBC.
“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden tweeted at around 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday.
“You make a lot of important decisions as president. But the first one is who you select to be your Vice President. I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021,” Biden emailed supporters from his campaign.
When Harris was attorney general, she worked closely with Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s late son, in a multi-state investigation into banks and foreclosure abuse during the housing crisis.
“There were periods, when I was taking the heat when Beau and I talked every day, sometimes multiple times a day,” Harris wrote in her memoir. “We had each other’s backs.”
Beau died in 2015 from brain cancer.
Harris and Biden clashed over racial issues during the first primary debate. Harris called out Biden for opposing mandatory school busing legislation in the ’70s.
Other vice presidential candidates reportedly in the running tweeted support for Harris.
Rep. Karen Bass tweeted that Harris was a great choice, and her “tenacious pursuit of justice and relentless advocacy for the people is what is needed right now.”
Susan Rice, considered a top contender along with Harris, shared her “warmest congratulations” for Biden’s new running mate.
“Senator Harris is a tenacious and trailblazing leader who will make a great partner on the campaign trail,” Rice said in a statement. “I am confident that Biden-Harris will prove to be a winning ticket.”
Stacey Abrams, who publicly made her case to be Biden’s running mate throughout the summer, said she’s “thrilled to support” the Biden-Harris ticket, People reported.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted that she’s “extraordinarily proud to support” Harris and Biden and referred to the Biden campaign slogan, saying, “They will be a fierce team to Build America Back Better.”
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Harris says she was inspired to fight injustice by her mother, Shyamala, an Indian-American immigrant, activist, and breast cancer researcher. Her father, Donald J. Harris, is a Jamaican immigrant and Stanford University professor emeritus. Harris grew up in Oakland, California, earning an undergraduate degree from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings.
In 2003, Harris became the district attorney of the city and county of San Francisco, serving two terms. She was the first African American and first woman to serve as California’s attorney general.
Harris has been criticized for her record as a prosecutor on issues such as marijuana convictions, especially by younger progressive voters.
