Current presidential candidate Kamala Harris made history in 2021 when she was sworn in as the first African American, South Asian, female vice president. However, prior to her work in the Biden-Harris administration, Harris has an extensive history in politics.
Harris was born in Oakland, California, and has a sister, Maya Harris. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan was a breast cancer researcher, and throughout her political rallies and speeches, Harris cites her mother as one of her greatest influences.
Harris graduated from Howard University and eventually received a law degree from University of California, San Francisco. In 2014 Harris married lawyer Douglas Emhoff and is the stepmother of two children: Cole and Ella Emhoff.
Harris worked as a deputy district attorney for eight years. In 2004, she became district attorney and in 2010 became the attorney general of California, the first Black woman to do so. In 2015, she announced her campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate and won the 2016 election. Harris most notably became a popular name when, in 2018 during a confirmation hearing, she questioned Justice Brett Kavanaugh about his position in Roe v. Wade.
Harris announced in 2020 on “Good Morning America” that she would be running for president. However, by December, she had dropped out of the race. Later, in August 2020, Joe Biden chose Harris as his running mate, and in November, they won the election 306-302 in the electoral college as cited by the Pew Research Center.
This past summer, after Biden dropped out the race, Harris became the next Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election. While having a relatively shorter time to campaign, Harris has focused on furthering the ideas of the Biden-Harris administration. Harris has also received endorsements from several celebrities including Taylor Swift and Hillary Clinton. For the past few months, Harris has been campaigning all around the country with her running mate, governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.
Donald Trump, the current Republican nominee for the 2024 election, takes on his third presidential campaign with his running mate J.D. Vance, hoping to restore his title as President of the United States.
Trump served for one term as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021 and lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Guided by the slogan, “Make America Great Again,” Trump executed major economic changes during his term as president within America and abroad, according to the Pew Research Center.
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Trump was the fourth of five children. He was raised by his father Fredrick Trump, a successful real estate developer, and his mother Mary Anne Trump, a philanthropist. Trump attended Fordham University for two years, originally wanting to become a movie director, before transferring to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor’s of Science in economics.
Prior to his political endeavors, Trump made a name for himself through many entertainment endeavors including owning the Miss Universe and Miss USA brands, being a co-host of “The Apprentice,” writing several books, and appearing in many movies.
His most prominent source of business prior to his political career was his well-known real estate business. In 1971 Trump took over his father’s real estate business, renaming it the Trump Organization.
With a background in real estate, Trump was the first president of the United States to not have any former political or military experience before coming into office. Unlike most other US presidents, Trump possessed no prior political titles of any kind before becoming president nor did he serve any military time.
He is currently married to Melania Knauss who is a former fashion model and jewelry designer. Together they have one child, Barron Trump; however, Trump has a total of five kids from his three marriages.
In May of 2024 Trump became the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a felony, charged on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Despite these convictions, Trump hopes for a Republican victory in the 2024 election.
Ever since Tim Walz was nominated as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee at the Democratic Convention Aug. 6, his name has been running through headlines; but who exactly is he?
Today, Walz lives in the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and two children, Hope and Gus, and has advocated for public education.
But 60 years ago, Walz was born in a small Nebraska town in 1964, growing up with his parents and three siblings. At 17, Walz joined the National Guard and served 24 years, traveling between his home state of Nebraska and Minnesota. His service overlapped with his part-time teaching career, spending a lot of time in the classroom as a high school social studies teacher and football coach, a unique aspect he leans on in his campaigns. Later, he committed to his education career and became a full-time teacher and coach at Mankato High School in Minnesota. Education ran in Walz’s family, as his father was a teacher and school superintendent, and his wife, Gwen Walz, taught English in public schools for over twenty years.
In 2005 Walz retired from the National Guard to run for Congress. Two years later he became a member of the U.S. House of Representative, and beginning 2017 he served as the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. During his time in the House, he became known for his strong advocacy for public education and bills passed to improve the lives of veterans, such as supporting legislation to improve their mental health services.
Two years later, in 2019, he was elected governor of Minnesota in which he is still in office for and runs on the vice-presidential ticket.
J.D. Vance, born James Donald Bowman, was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention.
His parents, Don and Bev Bowman, separated when Vance was young. Vance was raised mostly by his grandparents as his mother struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. After high school, Vance enlisted in the Marines, served in the Iraq War, attended Ohio State University and later, graduated Yale Law school in 2013. In addition, he worked for multinational law firms including Sidley Austin LLP and other investment firms.
In 2016, Vance published his first book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” This memoir, which highlights the often overlooked “working-class whites living outside major cities,” was considered an influential factor of Trump’s 2016 election victory. While some supporters of the book commend Vance for highlighting this group of working Americans, others believe Vance perpetuates stereotypes about people living in Appalachia.
In 2021, Vance ran for the U.S. Senate in Ohio to replace Republican Rob Portman and beat his Democrat opponent, Tim Ryan. While Vance outwardly disliked Trump during the 2016 election, he apologized for his previous statements and publicly aligned with Trump after announcing his race for the Senate.
After being announced Trump’s running mate, Vance has backed Trump’s positions on abortion, immigration and economic policy.
