As if this election year wasn’t historical enough, America has suddenly found itself face to face with the possibility of its first Black female president following President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. Serving as VP since 2020, Kamala Harris has poured her entire time in office into the fight for women to police their own bodies, gun regulation and queer equality. Let’s dive deeper into her work behind the scenes as a preview for what she could potentially do front and center.
What Has Kamala Harris Done As VP?
Before her time serving as VP, Harris has been a loud advocate for a myriad of issues, including gay marriage and climate change. As a senator from California, making history as the first woman and the first black person to serve as the state’s attorney general, she’s no stranger to doing the work: she championed legislation to fight hunger, provide rent relief, improve maternal health care, expand access to capital for small businesses, revitalize America’s infrastructure, and combat the climate crisis. Harris was also elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2004, where she worked heavily for LGBTQ+ rights and officiated the first same-sex wedding after Proposition 8 was overturned.
Since the 2020 election, she’s traveled to over 19 countries and met with more than 150 world leaders to strengthen critical global alliances. Though it’s been no easy feat, Harris has made it very clear which American issues she isn’t budging on. She’s set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president in the history of the Senate, leading to crucial moments like the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, providing Covid relief funding and stimulus payments, and confirming Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
Having to take the lead on several critical issues while President Biden focused his efforts on campaigning, here’s a glimpse at some of the work she’s done in the last four years:
Abortion Rights
Harris spent much of the 2022 midterms promising voters to prioritize and protect reproductive rights following the overruling of Roe v. Wade. She was also the first vice president in history to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic, the sixth stop on her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
Immigration
In an effort to support local jobs and slow mass migration, Harris’ Central America Forward initiative has yielded more than $4.2 billion in private sector commitments. While she was reprimanded for being slow to address border issues, her trip to Guatemala and Mexico proved helpful amidst accusations of inaction.
Voting Rights
One of the issues she’s most passionate about, Harris has been at the forefront of the administration’s efforts to protect voting rights. Though many of her actions were ultimately rejected, she helped craft political coalitions with civil rights leaders, met with lawmakers and urged Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, extending the protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and requiring federal approval for some local election law changes.
Will Kamala Harris Prevail as President?
As a potential leader of the Democratic party, Harris has had to prove herself able and competent amidst many obstacles, from being Black to being South Asian to being a woman. Despite leaning left on issues like gay marriage and the death penalty, she’s been accused of not being progressive enough for some Democratic voters, citing her history as a “cop.”
However, serving as a surrogate for Biden’s outreach to black communities, her sudden campaign has raised an astronomical amount of money, raking in over $81 million in less than 24 hours— the largest amount of money raised in a 24-hour span in presidential history. Within her campaign, Black female doners ranked high, with a call hosted by the group “Win with Black Women” bringing in $1.6 million alone. It’s clear that America is ready for change, and Harris could be the one to usher it in.