Skip to content

‘It’s just history’: Kamala Harris as the VP nominee

Political Theater, Episode 139

California Sen. Kamala Harris will be the first Black woman and the first Asian American to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket.
California Sen. Kamala Harris will be the first Black woman and the first Asian American to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Kamala Harris made history, again, this week, when she became the first Black woman and first Asian American picked for a major political party’s presidential ticket. The daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, the California Democrat has been many firsts.

She has been a county deputy district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco — the first woman and first African American elected to that position; and California’s first female, Black and Asian American attorney general. Harris was also the second Black woman to join the Senate, succeeding Democrat Barbara Boxer in 2017.

Not quite four years ago, it was Joe Biden, as vice president, who swore her in as California’s junior senator. Now Biden is counting on Harris to help him win the White House as his running mate.

With us on Political Theater to talk about this pick is CQ Roll Call columnist Mary C. Curtis, a longtime political correspondent covering the intersection of politics, culture and race.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Hegseth sticks to script at his confirmation hearing

The smallest initial Senate battleground ever?

Trump’s plans for Department of Justice hang over Bondi hearing

FDA publishes long-awaited front-of-package labeling proposal

Senate guidance on budget bills would put House at disadvantage

Kristi Noem largely glides unnoticed amid other Trump picks