There could be a new president in the White House after the next US Election 2024 in just two weeks, bringing a fresh face to international politics.
Current Vice President Kamala Harris announced in July that she would seek the Democratic Party nomination after President Joe Biden said he would withdraw from the race.
It took just hours from Biden’s withdrawal for Democrats to begin rallying around Harris as their party’s new 2024 presidential nominee.
On Tuesday, November 5, voters will head to the polls to decide whether it will be Harris or Donald Trump in the White House for the next four years.
But who are the people closest to her? Here we take a look at Kamala Harris’ family life with her husband and stepchildren.
READ MORE: US election 2024 timeline – Key dates in Trump vs Harris
Who is Kamala Harris?
Kamala Harris could become the next US President if she wins the vote on November 5 (Image: Getty)
The 60-year-old was born in Oakland, California. She was a lawyer and in 2010, became the attorney general of California – the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state’s chief law enforcement officer.
Harris turned to politics in 2017 when she became senator for California and was the second Black woman and first South Asian American senator in history.
The now-Vice President joined the presidential ticket with Joe Biden in 2020. She became the US’ first woman vice president, first African-American vice president, and first Asian-American vice president.
She announced her presidential candidacy in July of this year and was quickly endorsed by Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Barack and Michelle Obama.
Who is Kamala Harris’ husband?
Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff (Image: Getty)
The Vice President met her now-husband Doug Emhoff in 2013 while she was California’s attorney general and Emhoff was an entertainment lawyer. They got married the following year.
In 2020, Harris made history as the first black and South Asian woman to be Vice President and Emhoff did as the first-ever husband and Jewish spouse of a VP.
Emhoff left his law firm that year to focus on his role as the “first gentleman” and became a champion of Harris’ causes. At this year’s DNC, he cheered his wife on, saying: “She’s always been there for our children, and I know she’ll always be there for yours too.”
He told People: “Behind the scenes, she’s just a wonderful, caring, loving wife and great mom, auntie, friend.
“She loves to laugh, which is a good thing. She loves to cook, she loves music. And so she’s just someone who’s a great partner in every sense of the word.”
Does Kamala Harris have children?
Harris’ marriage gave her two step-children, who Emhoff shares with his first wife Kerstin Emhoff.
Cole, 30, and Ella, 25, have been vocal supporters of Harris with the pair calling her “Momala”. Ella said she had “the world’s greatest stepmother” and that she is “a rock” in their “big, blended family”.
The Vice President has many times that, of her many jobs, being “Momala” is the most important and that her step-children are her “endless source of love and pure joy.”
Kerstin said that Kamala is “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present”, adding: “I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Cole married last year and works in the entertainment industry, with jobs at talent agency WME and later, Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B.
Ella signed with IMG Models in 2021 and has walked in fashion shows for high-end brands including Balenciaga and Proenza Schouler. She is also an artist and has a knitwear brand.
Who are the rest of Kamala Harris’ family?
Kamala Harris and her family during the 2010 California Attorney General election (Image: Getty)
Kamala Harris’ mother Dr Shyamala Gopalan moved from India to the US at 19 to attend university and went on to work in breast cancer research. Her activism in the civil rights movement led her to her future husband: economist and Jamaican immigrant Donald Harris.
The Vice President is very close with her only sibling, younger sister Maya. After their parents’ divorce, the pair were raised primarily by their mother in California.
Maya also pursued law, working as a litigator and teacher before joining the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) where she became an executive director in 2006. She then shifted to politics and was a senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and campaign chair for Kamala’s 2020 nominee bid.
Her daughter Meena also graduated law school and worked at Silicon Valley giants including Uber, Facebook and Slack. She now runs a media and merchandising company.
Maya’s husband and step-father to Meena, Tony West, was associate attorney general under Barack Obama and worked as general counsel of PepsiCo. He is now the chief legal officer of Uber, but has taken a break to act as a key adviser to his sister-in-law’s campaign.
