Joe Biden Chooses Kamala Harris as His Vice-Presidential Running Mate

Joe Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, ending months of speculation that the former California attorney general and one-time Democratic presidential candidate would join his ticket.

The 55-year-old Oakland-born lawmaker was long considered the top contender given her strong prosecutorial experience, performance in the Senate, and friendship with Biden’s late son, Beau.

Harris brings crucially-needed youth and diversity to Biden’s ticket as the 77-year-old presidential candidate faces scrutiny over his advanced age and mental acuity.

Biden committed to choosing a woman as his veep and was lobbied to select a running mate of color after the death of George Floyd in May sparked a nationwide reckoning on race.

Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris, who identifies as black, served two terms as the District Attorney for San Francisco before becoming Attorney General of California in 2011.

She was elected as the Senator for California in 2016, and last year announced her White House bid before pulling the plug in December when her campaign ran out of cash.

Harris’ presidential run increased scrutiny of her prosecutorial record and she struggled to defend her tough-on-crime approach, which included supporting legislation in which the parents of habitually truant children could be charged.

Despite this, the lawmaker billed has herself as a “progressive prosecutor” and since joining Congress has supported measures to ban assault weapons and declassify marijuana as a controlled substance.

Recently, she helped pen a sweeping police reform bill prohibiting the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases, and joined a bill with Sen. Bernie Sanders that would give most Americans $2,000 a month during the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden’s decision to pick Harris shows the pair have been able to move past a now-infamous debate stage exchange where Harris attacked Biden for working with segregationists to oppose busing in the 1970s.

The exchange was seen as the peak of Harris’ campaign but was considered by some in Biden’s camp as a low blow and the senator was forced to repeatedly defend herself for the confrontation.

The two buried the hatchet and Harris endorsed the former veep in March.