副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯在民主党总统候选人提名中领先,这对美国来说是一个历史性的时刻,因为她似乎将成为第一位领导主要政党的黑人女性和亚裔美国人。
2024年大选将是自1976年以来首次不包括布什、克林顿或拜登的候选人。
哈里斯很快获得了有影响力的民主党人的支持,并在乔·拜登总统退出总统竞选的24小时内筹集了创纪录的8100万美元。从周日到周二晚上,哈里斯团队自代言以来筹集了1.26亿美元。
她正在为她最重要的时刻做准备,因为她马上就要投入竞选,并为选民为什么应该选她为下一任总统提出理由。
她的故事始于旧金山湾区。她是第一代美国人,母亲是印度人,父亲是牙买加人,在她6岁时离婚。
她就读于旧金山加州大学法学院。她在政治链条上步步高升,先是在20世纪90年代担任奥克兰的副地方检察官,起诉帮派暴力、贩毒和性虐待案件。2004年,她成为第一位担任旧金山地区检察官的女性。她后来成为加州第一位当选司法部长的女性和有色人种,然后在2017年加入美国参议院。
哈里斯在司法和情报委员会的工作得到了认可。她对民权和堕胎权持强硬立场,她在提名听证会上质疑未来的最高法院法官布雷特·卡瓦诺。
哈里斯在2019年竞选总统。尽管她没有被选为民主党候选人。例如,众议员Tulsi Gabbard在2019年辩论哈里斯时批评了她,说她作为检察官的记录没有任何借口,她应该向那些在她统治下遭受痛苦的人道歉。
根据以前未报告的记录,哈里斯在旧金山监督了超过1900起大麻定罪,这成为一个批评点。她的批评者指出,根据城市数据,她的检察官似乎以比她的前任更高的比率判定人们犯有大麻罪。
在她于2019年退出竞选后,拜登选择她作为他的竞选伙伴。
五年后,她现在有机会成为美国总统。
“我最大的事情是确保川普不会入主白宫,”民主党选民大卫·布朗在接受美联社采访时说。“但我想知道她的政策是什么,这对我很重要。”
据美国广播公司新闻报道,哈里斯已经获得足够多代表的承诺,如果他们在投票时都兑现承诺,他将成为推定的被提名人。
现在,人们开始猜测她的竞选伙伴会是谁——一些关键州的知名人士脱颖而出,比如亚利桑那州参议员马克·凯利和宾夕法尼亚州州长夏皮罗。
“哈里斯的团队已经在讨论从潜在的摇摆州挑选一个人,这个人来自哈里斯需要赢得总统大选的关键州之一,”政治记者、美国广播公司新闻撰稿人雷切尔·巴德说他们正试图找出一种方法,让她能够超越她的典型基础。"
哈里斯的其他潜在竞选伙伴包括肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔、密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默和北卡罗来纳州州长罗伊·库珀。
尽管知情人士告诉ABC新闻的玛丽·布鲁斯,哈里斯的竞选搭档大概有12个人。哈里斯预计将于8月7日宣布这一消息。
没有浪费任何时间,哈里斯的团队正在推出他们的第一个竞选广告,抨击共和党人反堕胎权利的立场。
随着哈里斯步入聚光灯下,她将面临对她过去的批评——来自共和党人对移民等问题的批评,以及民主党人对她担任检察官的时间持谨慎态度。
拜登要求哈里斯在2021年领导外交努力,解决三个中美洲国家移民的根本原因。白宫赞扬了她的工作,但共和党人在移民问题上强烈批评了她。
在她作为副总统的首次海外之旅中,她建议危地马拉移民不要来美国,这引起了移民倡导者的批评。
随着民主党全国代表大会几周后在芝加哥召开,共和党人将目标对准了可能的提名人。共和党副总统候选人JD万斯周一首次单独露面,攻击哈里斯。
“如果你想领导这个国家,你应该心怀感激,”万斯说。“你应该感到一种感激之情,而我在听卡玛拉·哈里斯的时候从来没有听到过这种感激之情。”
万斯星期一晚上在弗吉尼亚的集会上再次抨击哈里斯和民主党。
万斯说:“一些民主党精英坐在烟雾弥漫的房间里,决定把乔·拜登扔出船外。”“事情不是这样的。这是对民主的威胁。”
特朗普对拜登退出竞选后重启竞选表示失望。虽然共和党人和特朗普竞选团队利用拜登的年龄作为问题,但随着拜登退出竞选,特朗普现在是历史上年龄最大的总统候选人。
特朗普本人也曾是哈里斯的支持者。他为她竞选连任加州司法部长捐赠了6000美元,其中包括一张5000美元的支票。
在距离选民投票只有三个月的时候,两个竞选团队都在准备战斗。
哈里斯周一在特拉华州威尔明顿说:“我们要敲门,我们要与人交谈,我们要打电话,我们要赢得一场选举。”
Kamala Harris to take over for Biden after support from Pelosi, Obama
Vice President Kamala Harris' emergence as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination is a historic moment for the United States, as she seems poised to become the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.
The 2024 general election will be the first since 1976 that does not include someone named Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.
Harris quickly garnered support from influential Democrats and raised a record $81 million within 24 hours of President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race. From Sunday to Tuesday evening, Team Harris raised $126 million since the endorsement.
She is preparing for her most significant moment yet, as she hits the ground running and makes the case for why voters should elect her the next president.
Her story began in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a first-generation American, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who divorced when she was 6 years old.
She attended law school at UC Law San Francisco. She worked her way up the political chain, first as deputy district attorney in Oakland in the 1990s, prosecuting gang violence, drug trafficking and sexual abuse cases. In 2004, she became the first woman to serve as the district attorney in San Francisco. She later became California's first female and person of color to be elected as attorney general before joining the U.S. Senate in 2017.
Harris gained recognition for her work on the judicial and intelligence committees. She held a strong stance on civil rights and abortion rights, which she questioned future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about during his nomination hearing.
Harris ran for president in 2019. Although she was not elected as the Democratic nominee. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in debating Harris in 2019 criticized her, for example, saying there's no excuse for her record as a prosecutor and she owed an apology to those who suffered under her reign.
Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, according to previously unreported records, which became a point of criticism. Her critics pointed to her prosecutors appearing to convict people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor, based on city data.
After she dropped out of the race in 2019, Biden chose her as his running mate.
Five years later, she now has the opportunity to become president of the United States.
"My biggest thing is making sure that Trump doesn't get in the White House," David Brown, a Democratic voter, said in an AP interview. "But I would want to know what her policies are, that's the big thing for me."
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
And now speculation is turning to who her running mate would be – with prominent figures in battleground states rising to the top, such as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
"Harris' team, they're already talking about picking someone from a potential swing state, somebody who hails from one of these critical states that Harris would need to win the presidency," said Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and an ABC News contributor. "They're trying to figure out a way that she can extend her reach beyond her typical base."
Other potential running mates for Harris are Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.
Though a source familiar tells ABC News’ Mary Bruce the pool is roughly 12 people being considered for Harris' running mate. Harris is expected to make her announcement by Aug. 7.
Without wasting any time, Harris' team is launching their first campaign ad hammering Republicans over their anti-abortion rights position.
As Harris steps into the spotlight, she will face criticisms of her past — from Republicans over issues like immigration and Democrats wary of her time as a prosecutor.
Biden had tasked Harris with leading diplomatic efforts in 2021 to address the root causes of migration in three Central American countries. The White House has praised her work, but Republicans have strongly criticized her on the immigration issue.
During her first overseas trip as vice president, she advised Guatemalan migrants not to come to the U.S., which drew criticism from immigration advocates.
With the Democratic convention just weeks away in Chicago, Republicans are taking aim at the likely nominee. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance made his first solo campaign appearance Monday and attacked Harris.
"If you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it," Vance said. "You should feel a sense of gratitude and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris."
Vance took another jab at Harris and the Democratic Party at his rally in Virginia Monday evening.
"A couple of elite Democrats got a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard," Vance said. "That is not how it works. That is a threat to democracy."
Trump has expressed frustration over restarting his campaign now that Biden has exited the race. While Republicans and the Trump campaign used Biden's age as a problem, with Biden out of the race Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in history.
Trump himself was once a supporter of Harris. He donated $6,000 to her campaign for reelection as California attorney general, including a $5,000 check.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a fight with only three months left before voters go to the polls.
"We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win," Harris said Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.