In July, President Joe Biden announced that he was out of the presidential election, putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the head of the Democratic ticket. Harris picked up momentum as quickly as she picked up the torch, but how exactly did she get here? 

Harris has had a storied career in the Bay when it comes to law and politics that brought her to where she is today. 

Born in Oakland, California to two immigrant parents, she spent most of her childhood in the East Bay, growing up with her sister Maya Harris.

The Vice President’s law career began in school. She attended a historically black college, Howard University, where she got her undergraduate degree in political science and economics. Harris was one of many Howard alumni to be involved in democracy after graduating.

According to The Associated Press, Melanie Carter, founding director of Howard University’s Center for HBCU Research Leadership, and Policy, said, “There’s clearly a direct relationship between Howard and its relationship to democracy and the democracy that we envision, one that is practiced in a way that includes all of us.” 

After she earned her undergraduate degree at Howard, she went to University of California, Hastings to get her law degree. 

In 1990, she began her career in the district attorney’s office of Alameda county as a deputy district attorney. In 1998 she was recruited by San Francisco’s district attorney’s office where she was chief of the Career Criminal Division. 

Co-author on Kamala Harris’s book “Smart on Crime,” Joan O’C Hamilton said Harris’s goal was to “disrupt the cycle of crime and help offenders finish their education and learn job skills so they didn’t keep coming back.”  

After over two decades of experience working in a district attorney’s office, in 2002 Harris decided to run to be district attorney herself. She won the election and became the first person of color to serve as district attorney of San Francisco.

As district attorney, Harris gained a reputation among the public for being soft on crime, stemming from multiple cases involving the death penalty and illegal drug use.

AP Government instructor Jeff Isola ’98 said, “I think she got a reputation of being kinda lax on enforcement.”

Though among the people she worked with, she had a reputation for being a hard working and inspiring person.

Director of Police Accountability, and former Chief of Administration and prosecutor for Kamala Harris, Paul Henderson, said, “She did a good job and worked hard. What stands out is that she wanted people around her to work hard.”

This work ethic may have stemmed from Harris’s mother. Harris is known for saying, “Hard work is good work.”

The end of her term as district attorney marked the end of Harris’ political career in the Bay Area, as she would then move on to become Attorney General of California, a senator of California, Vice President of the United States, and now the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. 

Harris’ time in Bay Area politics and law truly shaped her career and laid the foundations of what she was to do in the future.  

Riordan student Ryan Huang ’25 said, “With the Bay Area being so diverse in living standards and cultures, it gives me a relief that our potential president understands who the average person is and how to help them.”