Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who has been the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021, serving with President Joe Biden. She is the first female, African American, and Asian American vice president, making her the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history. Harris is the Democratic Party's nominee for president in the 2024 election. She served in the United States Senate from 2017 to 2021 as the junior senator for California, and earlier as the attorney general of California. Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her law career in the office of the district attorney (DA) of Alameda County, then was recruited to the San Francisco DA's Office and later the office of the city attorney of San Francisco. She was elected DA of San Francisco in 2003 and attorney general of California in 2010, and reelected as attorney general in 2014. She was the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian American to hold each of those offices. Harris was the junior U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. She won the 2016 Senate election, becoming the second Black woman and first South Asian American U.S. senator. As a senator, Harris advocated for stricter gun control laws, the DREAM Act, federal legalization of cannabis, and reforms to healthcare and taxation. She gained a national profile for her pointed questioning of Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, including Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, but withdrew from the race before the primaries. Biden selected her as his running mate, and their ticket defeated the incumbent president and vice president, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, in the 2020 election. Presiding over an evenly split Senate upon entering office, Harris played a crucial role as president of the Senate, casting more tie-breaking votes than any other vice president, which helped pass bills such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus package and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. After Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, Harris launched her campaign with Biden's endorsement. On August 6, 2024, she chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.