US Elections: Who is Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s Running Mate?

Rabat – In a historic move, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has named Kamala Harris as his running mate for the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. The California senator is the first Black and South Asian American woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket.

Harris could be the first woman to hold the country’s esteemed office of vice president. Prior to Harris’ nomination, only two other women have been nominated as vice-presidential candidates for a major party in US elections.

The Republican party nominated Sarah Palin in 2008 and the Democrats nominated Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. Neither ended up on the winning ticket. No woman has won the US presidency, either.

What does Kamala Harris stand for?

Biden chose Harris as his running mate as he faced mounting calls to pick a black woman in recent months, amid social unrest stemming from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Kamala Harris, formerly California’s attorney general, has been urging police reform amid nationwide anti-racism protests. In her own presidential bid earlier in the 2020 race, she pledged to eliminate private prisons and mandatory minimum sentences, two key factors in ending mass incarceration. She took aim at American policies that overwhelmingly target Black and brown Americans.

Health care is an important topic in this year’s presidential race. In June, Harris proposed her “Medicare for All” plan to help ease the costly burden for millions of Americans.

Senator Harris has been a major voice on immigration issues in the US, speaking out against the Trump administration’s policy of separating children at the border. She has also proposed actions the government could take on gun control and ensuring federal contractors pay men and women equally.

Accepting the Democratic nomination

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are set to appear together for the first time Wednesday to officially announce her as his running mate and discuss the pending elections. The speech will take place in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden’s campaign has not yet confirmed what time that speech will take place.

After the running mate announcement, Kamala Harris said in a tweet that Biden “can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals.”

“I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief,” she added.

Joe Biden, who served as Barack Obama’s vice president, became the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party after the rest of the candidates dropped out of the race. Senator Bernie Sanders, the last major candidate left, suspended his campaign in April and endorsed Biden a few days later.

Biden will face Donald Trump in the November 3 election.