The field for potential 2020 presidential candidates is scarce for the Democratic party. I wanted to take a few articles and introduce some of the lesser known democratic politicians that I think are on their way to political stardom. Some you may agree with, and some you may not. This is my opinion on who I think should run in 2020 in order to take our country back from the person and party who is currently in control. I wanted to start with the Senator from California, Kamala Harris.
Senator Harris was born in Oakland, California in 1964. She is the daughter of an Indian mother and an African-American father. Even though her family moved to Canada when she was young, she came back to the U.S. and graduated from Howard University. She then returned home to California and got her law degree from University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 1990, she served as the deputy District Attorney for Alameda County. Harris says she sought a career in law enforcement because she wanted to be "at the table where decisions are made." In 1998, she became the managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. She was later recognized by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top 100 lawyers in California. In 2003, she defeated the two-term incumbent to become the District Attorney of the city and county of San Francisco. While she was DA, the felony conviction rate rose from 52% to 67% in the span of three years. There was also an 85% conviction rate among homicides. She created a special Hate Crimes Unit that focused on LGBT kids and teens. She supported gay marriage in California and opposed Proposition 22 and the infamous Proposition 8. In 2010, she was elected as the first African-American and the first woman to serve as Attorney General of California.
When Harris was elected to the Senate just over ten months ago, she became the Second African-American woman and the first Indian-American to serve. She is pro-choice and has received a 100% rating from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. When she was DA in San Francisco she created the Environmental Justice Unit and prosecuted several industries and individuals for pollution, most notably U-Haul, Alameda Publishing Corporation, and the Cosco Busan oil spill. She prosecuted many financial crimes, particularly affecting the elderly and identity theft. She believes in getting guns off the streets. Harris supported DACA and voted against the confirmation of now Chief of Staff John Kelly because he would definitively answer if he would protect these young people’s information from ICE. Just recently she was the first senator to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare-for-all” bill.
Senator Harris is an up and coming democratic leader and potential presidential candidate. Probably a winning presidential candidate. She currently serves on four major committees in the Senate, Homeland Security, Intelligence, environmental, and the Budget committees. She became a feminist hero when she was hearing testimony from Jeff Sessions about the firing of James Comey. Some Trump supporters in the media called her “hysterical.” We’ve all heard that before, am I right, ladies?
Kamala Harris has stated that she doesn’t plan on running in 2020, but I am not giving my hopes up yet. We need someone like her to help take out Trump and his cronies. She has the experience and the tenacity to run and I can’t wait to see what awaits for her in the future.