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Image: FILE PHOTO: Former Vice President Biden and Senator Harris shake hands before the start of the second night of the second U.S. 2020 presidential Democratic candidates debate in Detroit

2020 Election

Photos: Kamala Harris' political path

Joe Biden named Harris, a senator from California, as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’ s presidential ticket.

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Image: Kamala Harris

Alameda County deputy district attorney Kamala Harris at the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, Calif. on March 28, 1997.

The child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris has said she was inspired to attend law school after joining civil rights protests with her parents.

— Mary F. Calvert / MediaNews Group via Getty Images file
Kamala Harris, left, with her sister, Maya, and mother, Shyamala, outside their apartment in Berkeley, Calif., in 1970.

Kamala Harris, left, with her sister, Maya, and mother, Shyamala, outside their apartment in Berkeley, Calif., in 1970.

— Kamala Harris campaign via AP
Image: Kamala Harris meets with supporters in front of the 24th street BART station

Harris meets with supporters as she campaigns for district attorney in San Francisco in 2003.

Harris won her first election in 2003 when she became San Francisco’s district attorney. In that role, she created a reentry program for low-level drug offenders and cracked down on student truancy.

— Mike Kepka / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, left, and Rev. Cecil Williams help lead a march in San Francisco celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Jan. 19. 2004.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, Mayor Gavin Newsom, left, and Rev. Cecil Williams help lead a march celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in San Francisco on  Jan. 19, 2004.

— Paul Sakuma / AP
HARRIS

Harris in 2004. 

— Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP file
Kamala Harris, attorney general of California, speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012.

Harris was elected California’s attorney general in 2010, the first woman and Black person to hold the job, and focused on issues including the foreclosure crisis. She declined to defend the state’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage and was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

— Brooks Kraft / Corbis via Getty Images file
Image: Barack Obama, Kamala Harris

President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving at San Francisco International Airport on April 4, 2012.

On Tuesday, Obama praised his former vice president for selecting Harris as his running mate, saying, “Joe Biden nailed this decision.”

— Eric Risberg / AP file
Image: Senate Intelligence Committee Holds Closed Briefing

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence member Kamala Harris arrives for a closed-door meeting in in 2017.

After being elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris quickly gained attention for her assertive questioning of Trump administration officials during congressional hearings. 

— Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Image:

Harris speaks with an aid as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appears before a Senate hearing about privacy and election meddling in 2018.

— David Butow / for NBC News
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Senate Judiciary Committee members, behind from left, Cory Booker, Harris, and Richard Blumenthal talk as Sen. Jeff Flake, not pictured, discusses his concerns about Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018. 

— Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
Image: Kamala Harris

Sen. Kamala Harris waves to the crowd as she formally launches her presidential campaign at a rally in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2019.

— Tony Avelar / AP
Image: Kamala Harris

Harris arrives at the Common Man restaurant for lunch while campaigning in Concord, N.H., on Feb. 18, 2019.

— Elise Amendola / AP
Image: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Harris poses for a photograph with audience members in Portsmouth

Harris poses with audience members following a campaign town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., on Feb. 18, 2019.

— Brian Snyder / Reuters
Sen. Kamala Harris meets with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, during lunch at Sylvia's Restaurant, a Harlem landmark, on Feb. 21, 2019.

Harris meets with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, during lunch at Sylvia's Restaurant, a Harlem landmark in New York City, on Feb. 21, 2019.

— Bebeto Matthews / AP
Image: Sen. Kamala Harris asks a question as U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington

Harris asks a question as Attorney General William Barr testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election on May 1, 2019.

— Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters file
Image: Democratic Presidential Candidates Attend Forum On Wages And Working People

Harris speaks at a forum on wages on April 27, 2019 in Las Vegas.

— Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Image: Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Kamala Harris smile at each other during the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Harris smile at each other during the Democratic presidential debate in Houston on Sept. 12, 2019.

— Mike Blake / Reuters
Image: FILE PHOTO: Former Vice President Biden and Senator Harris shake hands before the start of the second night of the second U.S. 2020 presidential Democratic candidates debate in Detroit

Joe Biden and Harris shake hands before the start of a Democratic candidates debate in Detroit on July 31, 2019.

Biden selects Harris as his running mate

— Lucas Jackson / Reuters
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